|
Thomson IPO slated
|
 |
October 18, 1999: 8:32 a.m. ET
Finance Ministry plans partial sale of RCA owner Thomson Multimedia
|
LONDON (CNNfn) - The French government unveiled plans Monday to launch a partial sale of consumer electronics maker Thomson Multimedia, as the state continues to pare the company's industrial parent, Thomson S.A.
Thomson S.A. already has sold stakes in its 35-percent owned defense electronics arm, Thomson-CSF, to Alcatel, Dassault Industries and Aérospatiale-Matra, the Airbus consortium partner that is merging with Germany's DaimlerChrysler Aerospace to create a European aerospace giant.
The partial sale of Thomson Multimedia, set for sometime between Oct. 18 and 29 if market conditions permit, comes two years after an earlier effort to dispose of the subsidiary ended in a public-relations fiasco.
In 1997, former conservative French Prime Minister Alain Juppé sparked a national outcry when he attempted to sell the debt-saddled TV-maker to Daewoo of Korea for a symbolic price of one franc.
Thomson Multimedia, whose U.S. consumer-product brands include RCA and General Electric, is the biggest supplier of television sets to the United States and the number-four supplier worldwide.
In the wake of Juppé's ill-fated scheme, a group of private shareholders, including Microsoft, NEC and Hughes Electronics unit DirecTV, were brought in by the Socialist government to help nurse the debt-saddled company back to financial health for a 30 percent stake in the company.
The French Finance Ministry said Monday it will sell each share for 18 to 21.5 euros, resulting in a capital increase of 3.5 billion to 4 billion francs ($581.6 million to $664.7 million). The offering values Thomas Multimedia at 14.6 billion to 17.5 billion francs ($2.426 billion to $2.908 billion).
After the partial sale, state-owned Thomson S.A. will hold a 51.7 percent stake in Thomson Multimedia, the consortium of private shareholders will hold 25.6 percent, Thomson staff 5.5 percent, and institutional investors and private shareholders 17.1 percent, the Finance ministry said.
The flotation entails the sale of about 19.1 million shares currently held by Thomson S.A. and an additional sale of nearly 2 million new shares, according to a prospectus published by French business daily Les Echos Monday. The total volume of the offering will be about 21.1 million shares, representing 17.3 percent of Thomas Multimedia's share capital.
The company's deputy managing director, Frank Dangeard, told Reuters he aims to boost operating margin to 6 to 7 percent in 2001 from 2.9 percent last year.
Thomson Multimedia earned 203 million francs in the first half of 1999, compared with a loss of 258 million in the year-earlier period. Sales rose more than 11 percent to 18.4 billion francs.
Thomson produces displays, televisions, T.V. components and a host of consumer products including camcorders, telephones and professional video equipment. The company's TAK subsidiary develops interactive television services. 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
