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Polkomtel which operates across Poland under the mobile brand Plus, is looking to make a debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange as early as next year, according to media sources.

This comes after a flurry of rumours about Poland’s largest telecoms company in the last month, with Polish online media outlet Gazeta Prawna running a recent story that Polkomtel will launch an issue of Eurobonds to fund acquisitions, surmising that an obvious target would be Netia, the countrys leading alternative carrier.

This is tied in with a recent ratings review by Standard & Poors on Polkomtel,in which it was assigned its ‘BBB+’ long-term and ‘A-2′ short-term corporate credit ratings.

“The ratings on Polkomtel reflect its modest leverage, intermediate financial risk profile characterized by strong credit metrics, and solid cash flow generation” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Helen O’Toole “In our view, Polkomtel will continue to generate strong operating cash flow while maintaining its profitability and market position.

Which is good news for the carriers Polish shareholders who have been looking to exit from there stakes for some time & are expected to sell off in any IPO. Polkomtel is owned by Polish state-controlled companies; power company PGE -21.85%, oil refiner PKN Orlen -24.39% & copper miner KGHM -24.39% in Polkomtel.

Not necessarily good news for Polkomtel’s 4th shareholder, Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) which holds the balance of 24.4%. It is expected that Vodafone will be keen to up it’s stake to a minimum controlling margin, however there will be significant interest from other European carriers in an open auction. The list of bidders should not be surprising to anyone, with Telefonica, France Telecom & Deutsche Telekom all expected to throw their hats into the ring.

• Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) has been on an acquisition spree in Central Europe over the last 5 years, having acquired assets in the Czech Republic & Slovakia, which have subsequently been rebranded to the O2 brand.
• France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) already has a major interest in Poland, as it has a 47% stake in Polish national carrier Telekomunikacja Polska & is sure to defend it’s stake & also it’s share of TPLs €2Bn revenue.
• Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) has a chequered history in Poland, as it has held an interest in affiliate network Era for quite some time. This has been subject to a long & prolonged fight for control with France’s Vivendi since 2004, in September an Austrian court ruled in favour of Vivendi & it remains unclear regards DT’s further appetite for the Polish market.
• Oh & one surprise for the market, Egypt’s Orascom according to telecoms portal TMCnews.

So, the tables are open, place your bets ladies & gentlemen …. I would be placing some chips on Vodafone as the consolidation of a single market under one opco is very appetising for the UK company, more so as both fixed & mobile assets are involved, which ties very heavily in with corporate strategy.