ETB Seeks Strategic Investor

Colombian telephone company ETB has been advised by financial advisor Santander Investment to seek a strategic investor to inject capital into the company. ETB, of which the city of Bogota owns 80%, hired Santander in October to evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale. Local analysts who do not want to be identified say the most likely investors for ETB would be Telmex, Telefonica and EPM, which is majority owned by the city of Medellin. ETB has a market cap of about COP2.4trn. The analysts add that ETB needs an investor who will help it focus less on land-line telephone services and move more aggressively into internet and cable television. According to research firm Bolsa y Renta, income from land-line telephone services was down 1.5% as of September 2008 compared to the same month the previous year. Long-distance telephone services specifically, says the firm, were down 4.9% in the same period.