THE SALE of assembly company Telemont, a subsidiary of fixed-line monopoly Slovak Telecom (ST), is entering the final phase, said Deputy Telecom Minister Dušan Faktor on May 17.
While declining to release details, Faktor said a buyer had been selected and the purchase agreement should be signed in the near future. ST is expected to publish details of the transaction in June.
Telemont provides assembly services in all types of telecoms network technologies and its 2000 profits exceeded Sk56 million ($1.2 million). ST is selling the company to reduce costs and focus on its core business as it prepares for the ending of its fixed-line monopoly in January 2003.
The majority shareholder in ST is German giant Deutsche Telekom with 51 per cent; the Slovak Telecoms Ministry controls 34 per cent and the FNM privatisation agency owns the remaining 15 per cent.