France Telecom plans to sell its 54 per cent stake in French directory company PagesJaunes to US investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) for €3.3 billion.
KKR is offering €22 per share, valuing PagesJaunes at €6.13 billion, according to calculations from Reuters data.
The firms said KKR's offer would be submitted to France Telecom's board on July 26th.
The price offered by KKR is nearly identical to PagesJaunes's closing price of €22.04 last Friday, when the directory business trimmed its 2006 forecasts for sales and gross operating margin growth. Its shares fell 3.4 per cent that day.
The Paris-based company blamed the lower forecasts on sagging call volumes in the directory enquiries market in France and higher-than-expected advertising costs.
Today PagesJaunes shares showed a muted reaction to the deal, opening down 0.6 per cent before briefly turning positive.
By 8.45am, they were unchanged at €22.04 while France Telecom shares gained 1 per cent to €16.58. France's benchmark CAC 40 Index was up 0.5 per cent.
