NEW YORK-Ameritech Corp., which said in December it would sell its 24.95 percent stake in Telecom Corp. of New Zealand, announced the structure for the global public offering of 437 million shares.
As of late last year, Telecom New Zealand served 1.8 million phone lines and 456,300 cellular customers. Ameritech said it plans to use proceeds from the stock sale to help fund growth opportunities in Europe where it already has invested $5 billion.
Investors will be able to pay for their shares in two installments, with the first installment price set at $2.76 per ordinary share and payable on completion of the offering.
The amount of the second installment will be set in early April when the offering period has ended and will be payable approximately one year later.
Through an underwriting syndicate led by Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the shares are being offered in four tranches-one each for New Zealand, Australia, the United States and the rest of the world.
Chicago-based Ameritech and Bell Atlantic Corp. purchased the state-owned Telecom New Zealand in September 1990 for $2.46 billion. To meet government requirements, they reduced their stake to less than 50 percent by September 1994, through public sales of stock.
“We will work with Telecom New Zealand management and our partner, Bell Atlantic, to effect a smooth transition for the company and its share owners,” Richard C. Notebaert, chairman and chief executive officer of Ameritech, said in late December.
