COPENHAGEN, Denmark, August 31, 2000 (PRIMEZONE) -- Today, Tele Danmark agreed to divest its 33.3% stake in the Swedish landline communications provider Telenordia AB equally to the two other stakeholders; British Telecom and Norwegian Telenor.
Tele Danmark will get SEK 2.6bn (DKK 2.3bn) for the stake. The sale will generate a capital gain of SEK 2.3bn (DKK 2.0bn). The capital gain is tax-free as Tele Danmark has held the shares for more than three years.
The divestment of Telenordia releases Tele Danmark from certain restrictions related to commercial activities in the Swedish communication market. The ownership in Telenordia meant that Tele Danmark could only provide data and communication solutions in Sweden through Telenordia.
"We have an commercial advantage in releasing us from the cooperation in Telenordia as we will be able to provide our own communication solutions to Swedish business customers. At the same time we gain quite a profit from the sale of Telenordia, so this is a good solution - both in terms of strategy and financially," says Tele Danmark's Executive Vice-President of International Business, Henning Vest
"Tele Danmark has just announced a major organizational restructuring to focus the company for further growth. The strategy has turned out not to be compatible to that of the two other stakeholders in Telenordia and consequently, we have decided to exit the cooperation," says Henning Vest.
Tele Danmark is a Danish based European communication solutions provider organized along five main business lines; Communication Solutions, Mobile, Internet, Cable TV and Directories. Tele Danmark is the principal provider of communications services in Denmark and holds significant interests in a range of communication companies across Northern and Continental Europe. The total number of employees in Tele Danmark and fully owned associated companies was 18,446 by mid-year 2000. The Company was privatized in 1994 and today SBC Communications owns 41.6% of the shares, with the remaining shares held by individual and institutional shareowners all over the world.
TLD Listings Shares: Copenhagen Stock Exchange. Reuters TLD.CO. Bloomberg TLD DC. Nominal value DKK 5. ISIN DK00-1020242-3. SEDOL 4889874. ADRs: New York Stock Exchange One ADR represents half of one ordinary share Reuters TLD.N. Bloomberg TLD US. SEC 1-12998. Half of one ordinary share. CUSIP 879242105. SEDOL 2883094.