After the takeover of Telecom Italia, Telefonica would have started preliminary contacts for the sale of its stake in Telefonica Czech Republic. This was reported by some banking sources. At current values, the stake, equal to 69% of the capital, would be worth around 3,6 billion dollars.
The objective of the Spanish telecommunications giant is to reduce its debt through this operation, bringing it below the threshold of 47 billion euros.
The most likely buyer, according to the sources, is Czech investment firm PPF, whose founder and main shareholder is Petr Kellner, the richest man in the Czech Republic according to Forbes. Other potential buyers would be some Russian telecommunications groups that would, however, face some obstacles at a political level.
