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Vodafone puts IPO on hold
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May 25, 2000: 5:30 a.m. ET
Mobile-phone firm scraps $1.1B share sale of Australian unit
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Vodafone AirTouch became the highest-profile casualty of the slide in telecom stock valuations, with the postponement on Thursday of the planned A$1.87 billion ($1.1 billion) initial public offering of stock in its Australian subsidiary, Vodafone Pacific.
Analysts had valued Australia's number-three cellular player at as much as A$16.4 billion when the IPO was announced in February, with between 20 percent and 25 percent of the firm earmarked for sale.
"Vodafone Pacific announced today it will not launch its proposed initial public offering at this time in view of current market conditions and volatility in the global equities markets in general and in the telecommunications and media sectors in particular," the company said in a statement.
However, it maintained its commitment to an IPO and said it would continue to monitor market conditions.
Vodafone Pacific, in which Vodafone AirTouch has a 91 percent stake, has around 1.44 million Australian subscribers and had been restructured to include its parent's operations in New Zealand and Fiji to boost investor appetite.
The postponement, in the wake of a 30 percent fall in Australian telecom stock values since the market peak in March, is a blow for Vodafone AirTouch (VOD) as it seeks to cut a debt burden lifted by the acquisition of Germany's Mannesmann earlier this year and the cost of buying up new-generation mobile-phone licenses in Europe.
Shares in Vodafone Pacific's larger Australian rivals, Telstra and Cable & Wireless Optus, both climbed Wednesday in response to the announcement. Telstra added 3.7 percent and Optus closed 3.5 percent ahead in Sydney. 
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