Romanian telecom group RCS&RDS ponders listing on Bucharest Stock Exchange

RCS&RDS, one of the top telecom groups in Romania, may sell a 25% stake on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB), according to local merges & acquisitions journal Mirsanu.ro. This deal would be the biggest private listing in the local capital market’s history as well as one of the biggest IPO’s ever in Bucharest. The transaction is estimated at EUR 400-500 million and would allow the group’s minority shareholders to make their exit. The biggest minority shareholders are American investment fund Eton Park and American investor Wayne Grant Quasha. Romanian investor Zoltan Teszari, the Romanian investor who controls RCS&RDS, has showed no intention to sell the company, which has been growing at a fast pace in recent years. International investment banks Citibank and Deutsche Bank and local Raiffeisen Bank, BRD, and Wood have won the mandate to carry out the listing. RCS&RDS had a turnover of EUR 516 million and EUR 16 million losses in 2014. The group is the biggest fixed broadband internet and cable TV provider in Romania and has expanded into the mobile services market in the past years. RCS&RDS sells its services under the Digi brand. The group has also invested heavily, in media in recent years. It owns four sports TV channels (Digi Sport), a news channel (Digi 24), several channels that broadcast documentaries, films, and music, as well as several radio stations (Digi FM, Pro FM). Romanian RCS&RDS “steals” 27,000 clients from competitors in one month editor@romania-insider.com