Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (
Hutchison, controlled by Hong Kong's richest tycoon, Li Ka-shing (
Hutchison, which owns 95 percent of the company, has said it plans to list the company's shares on the Italian stock exchange in the first quarter of the year.
However, Hutchison spokeswoman Laura Cheung said the listing is subject to approval from 3 Italia's board of directors, who have to yet approve the initial offering price of the shares.
"A decision is dependent on market conditions and other things," she said, adding that the company hopes to make a formal announcement this week.
Some market observers believe the company might scuttle the IPO if it can't obtain a high enough price for its shares.
The South China Morning Post reported yesterday that Hutchison has agreed to lower the valuation of 3 Italia to 8 billion euros (US$9.58 billion) to pave the way for the offering to raise about 1.05 billion euros.
That figure is much lower than the company's initial target of a valuation of up to 15 billion euros when it first attempted to list last year, the report said, quoting unidentified bankers close to the deal.
Cheung declined to comment on the report. She also refused to say how much the company hopes to raise from the listing.
Analysts are closely watching the deal's progress because a successful spin-off could set a benchmark for valuing Hutchison's 3G businesses.
3 Italia, which offers customers high-speed mobile telecommunications, media, Internet and data services, hopes to use the proceeds from the listing to pay off debts. 3G cell phones relay information at much faster speeds than current models.
3 Italia had 5.57 million users last year, giving it a domestic market share of about 8 percent, up from 4 percent the previous year, according to the deal's sponsors.
Hutchison began 3G operations in Britain and Italy in March 2003, becoming the first company to offer such services in Europe.
It has since launched 3G services in Hong Kong, Australia, Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden and Israel. The company has said it may list its UK 3G business next year following 3 Italia's listing.
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