Cut-price Orange to float 60 per cent below forecasts

NEWS The mobile phone operator, now Europe's number two mobile phone group, will be valued at between E55.2bn (£35bn) and E64.8bn (£41bn) when 15 per cent of the company is floated next month. The value is barely 40 per cent of the price originally placed on Orange by owner, France Telecom. France Telecom bought the company from Vodafone last May for £30bn and then amalgamated it with its own mobile interests. The French telco valued its combined mobile interests at between E100bn (£63bn) to E150bn (£94bn) at the time of the acquisition. According to analysts, this value indicates how much telecom stocks have fallen in recent months due to concerns about the high costs of 3G licences. Some analysts believe the true worth of the company is between E70bn (£44bn) and E80bn (£51bn), but say Orange is prepared to value itself at a discount to attract investors. According to Reuters' figures, interest is very high with around half a million private investors in the UK having already registered for an Orange prospectus. Orange is due to make its debut on 12 February.