EVN Telecom to set a fast pace

EVN Telecom may start its equitisation this year, leaving peers MobiFone and Viettel Telecom in its wake. EVN Telecom said it wanted to begin its equitisation in 2010 and planned to complete its corporate valuation in the first quarter of this year.

“We will follow our equitisation roadmap, which was submitted to the EVN, to finish our equitisation this year,” said an EVN Telecom spokesperson. EVN Telecom previously estimated that its corporate value by April, 2009 was around VND8 trillion ($421 million). However, the value would increase because the evaluation was actually done in September instead of April, and the structure of EVN Telecom has since changed.

EVN Telecom is allowed, by the government, to sell a 30 per cent stake to foreign investors. The operator was previously scheduled to equitise last year, planning to sell shares to foreign strategic investors before making its initial public offering.

The long-awaited MobiFone equitisation, meanwhile, is unclear as the equitisation has been delayed after the company’s corporate value was defined at around $2 billion by Credit Suisse last year. A Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) official said that the MobiFone equitization process had been delayed and was waiting for new government directions.

On the old schedule, the proposed date for MobiFone’s equitisation was April 2009, with a 30 per cent stake sold to investors, including 15 per cent for strategic partners. Around 10 international telecom groups from Europe, Asia and Russia want to be MobiFone strategic partners.

Since 2005, equitisation has figured highly on the government’s agenda. The four leading mobile operators planned to privatise over the next few years, with MobiFone the likeliest to make a debut. The government planned to sell a minority stake in MobiFone to foreign and domestic operators through a Hanoi Stock Exchange auction. In the longer term, the government aims to gradually reduce its holdings in MobiFone to 51 per cent.

Viettel does not have a clear equitisation plan as it is trying to complete its restructuring proposal this month by expanding its businesses, especially in mobile handset production. Viettel will continue its plan to equitise its two affiliates Viettel Construction in April and Viettel Import and Export Company later this year. Two affiliates the Viettel Post and the Viettel Design Consultant Company has already completed equitisation.

“It will take time for us to consider the equitisation of Viettel Telecom, as it is our main business,” said Nguyen Manh Hung, Viettel deputy general director. The long-awaited VinaPhone equitisation plans remain stalled, as VNPT Group’s restructuring proposal has not been approved by the MIC.

An MIC report revealed that Vietnam had 111.3 million mobile subscribers by the end of 2009, accounting for 85.4 per cent of all telephone subscribers. The country’s revenues from post and telecoms was around VND143.3 trillion ($2.2 billion), an increase of 61 per cent.

Tags: EVN Telecom, Mobifone, Vietnam Telecom, Vietnam telecom companies, Vietnam telecom enterprises, vietnam telecom markets, Vietnam telecom sector, Vinaphone