Despite discounts put in place last week, the flotation of Orange yesterday failed to generate anything other than hype about the future of the telecommunications industry in Europe.
The knock on effect of this disappointment will be seen soon. Companies expecting to follow Orange’s IPO – Deutsche Telecom and KPN – may revise their plans; their own shares fell yesterday by around 3%. New strategies may have to be found if telecoms companies are to reduce the accumulated debt that most are now stocking.
In the meantime, the future may not be so bright for Orange. At present trading the company is only capitalized at E45.2 billion, less than a third of the E150 billion that it was supposed to be worth last year.
