The third largest player on the cable market, Galati-based company Cony-Sat, will be floated on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) through a public stock sale offering.
Cony-Sat is owned by businessman Catalin Chelu, one of the top investors on the BSE, where he holds, in line with market data, investments worth more than 100 million euros.
The value of Cony-Sat in the wake of its floatation is likely to revolve around 50 million euros. The company has about 220,000 subscribers, meaning a market share of 6%. In the first eight months of the year, the company logged turnover worth 19.4 million RON (5.5 million euros).
"We will file listing documents with the Stock Exchange and the National Securities Commission in the following days," Catalin Chelu told ZF.
He also said that the listing process had two phases, with up to 25% of stock in the company to be sold on the capital market during the first phase. In the second phase, the stock issue may be expanded so as to secure the liquidity of stock on the market.
"I am not ruling out the possibility that I could also sell part of the stock I own," the businessman continued.
The price to be asked by Cony-Sat for the new stock will only be known after the initial public offering is closed and it will be determined depending on subscription demands. A similar method of unfolding an offer was used by Flamingo IT holding, which was listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange this spring.
Chelu says that listing is meant to secure additional financing for the company and is not geared towards the sale of the company. "In telecommunications, business is going quite well. The sale of Astral says a great deal from this point of view. I am not interested in making an exit, but in getting financing and finding the real worth of the company," says Chelu.
UPC, the European unit of US group Liberty Global, has recently taken over the company Astral for 407 million dollars (340 million euros), thus becoming the leader of the Romanian market with 1.28 million customers. Astral has about one million subscribers, which yields a price of 400 dollars per subscriber.
UPC now holds 35% of the market, with 1.3 million subscribers, followed by RCS&RDS with 0.9 million subscribers and a share of 25%, and Cony-Sat, ranking third with 6% of the market. The rest of the market is highly fragmented, with most of smaller players to be probably swallowed by larger competitors.
Cony-Sat''s value per subscriber is perhaps smaller as the company does not hold extended Internet and telephony services. Based on the sum of 300 dollars per subscriber, the value of Cony-Sat would amount to 66 million dollars (55 million euros).
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