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Vodafone plans Aussie IPO
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February 14, 2000: 9:11 a.m. ET
Minority stake in Australasian unit to be spun off this year; may fetch $2.6B
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Vodafone AirTouch announced plans Monday to float a minority stake in its Australasian business later this year in a deal valued at up to A$4.1 billion ($2.59 billion).
The UK-based company, the world's leading cellphone operator, aims to offer between 20 and 25 percent of Vodafone Pacific for sale to the public. The unit, 91 percent owned by Vodafone, is Australia's No. 3 cellular operator with 1.3 million users.
Vodafone (VOD) had indicated that it would sell about 20 percent of the Australian unit as part of an agreement to meet regulatory requirements laid down when it restructured its Pacific operations last year. It is expected to bundle wholly-owned Vodafone New Zealand and its 49 percent stake in Vodafone Fiji into the sale.
The sale will help reduce the debt burden resulting from this month's agreement to buy Germany's Mannesmann and last year's acquisition of AirTouch Communications of the U.S.
Analysts have valued the Australasian unit at A$16.4 billion. The three units together posted a 67 percent rise in sales to 327.6 million pounds ($528 million) in the 12 months to Mar. 31 last year, around 10 percent of the parent's total.
The initial offering, scheduled for June or July, will be among the largest equity sales in Australia in recent years, behind the privatization last year of fixed-line and mobile-phone market leader Telstra. C&W Optus, a unit of London-based Cable & Wireless (CW-) is Australia's second-most popular cellular provider.
Vodafone shares were down 3.1 percent at 361 pence at midday in London. The stock had been bought heavily by index-tracking investors ahead of the rise in its FTSE 100 weighting from 8.5 to 13.5 percent, which took effect Monday. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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