Dutch telecoms group KPN will offer public stakes in mobile and data offshoots to fund their expansion and benefit from investor enthusiasm for those sectors.
It announced the plans yesterday while producing interim results indicating it was performing better than expected against competition. KPN is one of Tele com's strategic alliance partners and is the largest single shareholder in the Irish company.
KPN named Mr Paul Smits (52) successor to Mr Wim Dik, who is stepping down as chairman after nearly 12 years. Mr Smits is in charge of the group's domestic operations. Until last year, he headed Unisource, KPN's ill-fated alliance with Telia of Sweden and Switzerland's Swisscom.
Mr Cees Griffioen, chief financial officer, who will retire once a successor is found, said KPN was positioning itself for a future where mobile and Internet services would be its predominant business. It wanted to fund these while making the activities more visible to investors. KPN Qwest, its joint venture with Qwest Communications, the Denver-based carrier that is merging with US West, will launch an initial public offering in the US and Europe.
KPN plans to introduce free Internet access for domestic customers. Its shares closed €1.85 higher at €44.85 as it also forecast full-year net profits of more than 1.7 billion Dutch florins, upgraded from its Fl1.6 billion prediction.
