PKN Orlen: Arbitration Ruling Favors Polish Polkomtel Holders

WARSAW -(Dow Jones)- Polish oil company PKN Orlen said Friday an arbitration court in Vienna ruled in favor of Polish shareholders in mobile firm Polkomtel, in which it has a stake.

PKN Orlen, KGHM, and two other Polish state-run companies in 2006 agreed to buy a 19.6% stake in Polkomtel from Denmark's TDC for EUR650.5 million.

Following the deal, U.K. phone giant Vodafone, which owns another 19.6% of Polkomtel, filed a lawsuit to block the deal, arguing that it had the right of first refusal on TDC's stake.

KGHM said Thursday it plans to boost its Polkomtel stake to over 24%. PKN Orlen intends to increase its stake and exit Polkomtel subsequently.

-By Marek Strzelecki; Dow Jones Newswires, +4822 622 2767; marek.strzelecki@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 28th March 2008