Current reports

Netia Holdings S.A., the largest alternative fixed-line telecommunications operator in Poland, today became the first Polish company to list its shares in the US through its initial public offering on Nasdaq. Netia's American Depositary Shares (ADS), each equivalent to one of the Company's common shares, began trading today, on a "when-issued" basis, on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "NTIA".

 

The initial public offering price has been set at $22 per ADS. The aggregate size of this primary offering is 5.5 million common shares in ADS form, which represents a publicly traded float of approximately 20% of total shares outstanding following the transaction. In addition, certain existing shareholders of the Company have granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 825,000 secondary shares to cover over-allotments.

 

Completion of the IPO is scheduled for August 3, 1999, and is subject to satisfaction of standard conditions. All trading in the Netia ADS is conditional and subject to cancellation until the capital increase required by this primary offering is registered with the Commercial Court in Warsaw.

 

Netia will apply the proceeds of the IPO towards the build-out of its national long-haul backbone and metropolitan access digital fibre-optic telecommunications network and for general corporate purposes, said Netia President and CEO Meir Srebernik.

 

Netia Supervisory Board Chairman Kaj Juul-Pedersen, Telia, commented: "As Telia, the national Swedish telecom operator and the Company's largest shareholder, we are extremely pleased to be a part of this historic occasion for Netia and for Poland."

 

Netia ADS's are eligible for trading on the Stock Exchange Automated Quotation International System (SEAQ) operated by the London Stock Exchange. Netia has also indicated that it intends to apply to list its shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in late 1999 or early 2000.

 

The offering is being made through an underwriting group managed by Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette as global coordinator and sole book-runner, by Credit Suisse First Boston and Lehman Brothers as Co-Lead Managers, and by ABN AMRO and Deutsche Bank as Co-Managers.

 

Copies of the prospectus which contains detailed information about the Company and its American Depositary Shares can be obtained by contacting Ania Kuchnio at the following address: