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France Tel unveils Web IPO
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June 29, 2000: 4:49 a.m. ET
Wanadoo share sale slated for July; unit worth as much as $19B
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LONDON (CNNfn) - France Telecom SA said Thursday it would list its consumer Internet arm Wanadoo on July 19, valuing the company at up to  20 billion ($19 billion).
The French firm indicated it would offer 10 percent of Wanadoo for sale at a price between 17 and 20 a share. The unit is France's largest Internet service provider, with some 1.4 million subscribers. The share sale is likely to be popular, given the experience of other former state-run telecom companies that have floated their ISP businesses.
The best example is Deutsche Telekom AG (FDTE), which in April undertook a successful IPO of its T-Online International AG unit, Europe's most popular ISP. Spain's Telefónica SA last year listed stock in its Internet subsidiary, Terra Networks SA. 
"Through the IPO of a portion of Wanadoo, France Telecom aims to accelerate the rapid growth of our European Internet business," France Telecom Chairman and Chief Executive Michel Bon said in a statement.
Wanadoo officials told a news conference Thursday the company would have many opportunities to make acquisitions. France Telecom has already extended its Internet activities beyond its domestic borders into Belgium and Holland, and owns an indirect stake in Germany's third-largest ISP, freenet.
July's IPO includes a capital increase of 97 million shares, representing 9.7 percent of the firm's capital. The subscription period will run from June 30 to July 13, with the final pricing to be unveiled on July 18. The shares will commence trading in Paris the following day.
France Telecom (PFTE) stock slid almost 3 percent to 154.2 in early Paris trading. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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France Telecom
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