The minister had previously anticipated that bpost’s bid might be submitted in March-April 2015.
At the end of September, bpost was the sole bidder for a 51% stake Romania was seeking to sell in its postal operator Posta Romana.
Romania tried to privatize its loss-incurring postal operator last year but failed as no interested parties submitted any bids. In September last year, the government approved a plan to convert the postal operator’s debt to the state into shares before putting it up for privatization again. The Belgian investor’s bid will trigger the debt conversion operation.
With a turnover of RON1.15 billion in 2013, Posta Romana is the largest postal operator in Romania and has more than 5,600 local offices across the country. It is 75% owned by the state and 25% by investment fund Fondul Proprietatea. At the end of 2012, the company had debts amounting to RON568.2 million, after amassing losses of RON530 million in 2008-2012.
Majority-owned by the Belgian government, with 51.04%, bpost had revenues of EUR2.44 billion in 2013, up 0.5% on the year, and its net profit stood at EUR287.9 million, from EUR174.2 million in 2012. bpost is listed on Euronext Brussels and 48.5% of its capital is held by private investors.