Although the sale of Telekom is still hanging in the air, it is already clear that the number of employees will be reduced by more than 1.000.

The unions and government have come to an agreement on the method of reducing the number of employees. The management is expected to confirm the deal today. It will then also be signed by union representatives. Judging by what is already known, the number of employees is to be reduced by 225 people this year. By the end of 2018 another 800 people will leave the company. It is still unclear how the agreement with the unions will influence the possible sale of Telekom. The sale procedure is currently at a deadlock. Unofficially, the British investment fund Cinven, still hasn’t expressed interest in continuing talks on the purchase of Telekom.

Wish for the procedure to end as soon as possible
Telekom Slovenija assures that it wants to see the end of the sale procedure as soon as possible. The only buyer, British investment fund Cinven, demanded that the company shift its focus from Macedonia, and eventually exit the Macedonian market. There have already been new developments surrounding the Macedonian story, however it is still not known whether Telekom Slovenija will be able to fulfill the new conditions set by the Macedonian Competition Protection Agency.

In the beginning of July, Macedonian regulators approved the merger of Telekom’s operator ONE and Austria’s VIP on the Macedonian market. However, only under certain conditions. And it still isn’t clear whether Telekom will be able to fulfill those conditions. Of course, the success of the merger also depends on the Austrians. The fact however is that Telekom’s clarifications, regarding the whole case, will be key for the future sale of the company. British Cinven is conditioning the purchase with the developments in Macedonia and Telekom’s future withdrawal from that market.

Cinven awaits the half-year business results
There is additional uncertainty in the whole story. Unofficially, prior to making the purchase, Cinven would like to assess Telekom’s half-year business results. Telekom Slovenija is expected to announce its results at the end of August and not on Thursday as it was previously expected. There are several explanations for this decision. The most probable reason is that the company has to clarify its operations in Macedonia, and therefore need additional time to complete the report.

What does all this waiting mean?
It is presumed that the entire procedure will fall on the backs of the new Slovenian State Holding (SDH) leadership, the new supervisors, and later also on the company’s new management. The expectations of leading state officials are clear, and those are that Telekom has to be sold. But it is still not known at what price. Cinven would like to further lower the price, and the next SDH management may very well sell Slovenia’s telecom operator for an even lower figure.