[Intl-tobacco] Bulgaria extends deadline for bids on tobacco firm

[robert weissman]

Bulgaria extends deadline for bids on tobacco firm
Thu September 23, 2004 08:56 AM ET

SOFIA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Bulgarian state tobacco firm Bulgartabak
BTHG.BB has
said extended a deadline for final bids in the sale of four cigarette
mills until
the end of October so investors can have more time to submit offers.
The Balkan state put Bulgartabak's four best performing cigarette-making
factories
on sale in July in a deal key to the country's efforts to restructure
its economy
and liberalise its tobacco market ahead of EU accession in 2007. Three
global
cigarette majors, British American Tobacco BATS.L , Imperial Tobacco
IMT.L and
Philip Morris MO.N , are preparing final bids for the four factories.

But earlier this week an industry source said BAT had asked for the original
September 30 deadline to be pushed back.

"Taking into account the short time given for due diligence and the need
for deeper
analysis for the plants up for sale, the Supervisory Board has extended the
deadline for placing offers to October 29," the company said in a
statement on
Thursday.

Bulgartabak is offering the four plants in two packages -- each one to
go to a
separate bidder -- and expects revenues worth at least their market
capitalisation,
or 490 million levs ($306.3 million).

The poor Black Sea state has said it hopes to close the deal by end-2004.

Bulgartabak is Bulgaria's most sensitive sell-off of state assets since
the fall of
communism, as most of the country's 10 percent Turkish minority works in
the sector
and every second Bulgarian smokes.

The company, which has 22 domestic subsidiaries, is also selling its 12
tobacco
processing plants and a packaging plant.

It also has five other cigarette making plants, but it plans to strip
them of their
production licences after the sale is concluded. If these and the
processing units
fail to attract potential investors, they will be closed.

Some 1,000 of Bulgartabak's 8,000 workers are expected to be laid off
after the
sales.