NEW YORK-Ameritech Corp., Chicago, said it expects total proceeds of $2.1 billion from the sale of its 24.95 percent stake in Telecom Corp. of New Zealand.
As a result of the sale, completed earlier this month through a global public offering, Ameritech said it expects to report a one-time gain in the second quarter of 1998.
Through an underwriting syndicate led by Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the 437 million shares were offered in four tranches-one each for New Zealand, Australia, the United States and the rest of the world.
Ameritech announced in December its intention to sell its stake in the New Zealand carrier. Ameritech has said it plans to use proceeds from the equity sale to help finance growth opportunities in Europe where it already has invested $5 billion.
As of late last year, Telecom New Zealand, headquartered in Wellington, served 1.8 million phone lines and 456,300 cellular customers.
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.
