Australian Telecommunications Giant Telstra Opens for Trading on the New York Stock Exchange.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 1997--Through an initial public offer by the Commonwealth of Australia Commonwealth of Australia: see Australia. , shares in Telstra Corp. Ltd. -- the principal telecommunications carrier in Australia and one of the country's largest companies -- were today listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. . Telstra's NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol Ticker Symbol An arrangement of characters (usually letters) representing a particular security listed on an exchange or otherwise traded publicly. When a company issues securities to the public marketplace, it selects an available ticker symbol for its securities which investors for interim ADSs is TLSPP TLSPP Transport Layer Sequenced Packet Protocol . Australia's Consul-General, Michael Baume, presided over today's opening ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange. Paul Rizzo, Telstra's chief financial officer and group managing director of Finance & Administration, rang the opening bell at the NYSE to signal the commencement of trading this morning. Shares in Telstra also began trading overnight on its home market, the Australian Stock Exchange Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Australia's major securities market, formed when the six state stock exchanges (Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney stock exchanges) were merged in 1987. . The company is now a partially privatized enterprise, with approximately one third of its shares now publicly traded and two thirds of its shares still owned by the Australian government. A total of about 4 billion of Telstra's 12.9 billion shares have been offered to investors in one of the largest global capital raisings in 1997. The A$14.3 billion (approximately US$10 billion) in proceeds realized by the Commonwealth from Telstra's partial privatization will provide funds for the retirement of debt and will fund major environmental projects throughout the country. For institutional and international investors who have purchased shares under the initial public offer, the Commonwealth of Australia has set a final price of A$3.40 per share. The final price to be paid by individual retail investors in Australia for shares bought under the Australian public offer and held for 12 months is A$3.30 per share. More than 1.8 million individual Australians chose to become shareholders in Telstra. All investors will pay for Telstra shares in two installments -- with the first payment at closing and the final payment due in November 1998. Shares will not be issued to investors until the final payment is made. Instead, investors will hold installment receipts, which carry the full dividend and voting rights Voting rights The right to vote on matters that are put to a vote of security holders. For example the right to vote for directors. voting rights The type of voting and the amount of control held by the owners of a class of stock. of traditional shares. All secondary trading that takes place over the next 12 months will therefore be in Telstra installment receipts and in interim ADSs in the United States. Telstra is a truly full-service telecommunications company. With operations in traditional local, long-distance and international telephony, Telstra carries more than 90 percent of all calls in Australia and serves virtually all Australian homes and a substantial majority of Australian businesses. The company is also Australia's largest mobile telecommunications carrier, with more than 2.8 million customers. In addition, Telstra is a leader in providing innovative, value-added telecommunications and information services, including ISDN ISDN in full Integrated Services Digital Network Digital telecommunications network that operates over standard copper telephone wires or other media. as a value added alternative to basic access, packaged solutions for fixed, mobile and Internet services, customized VPN (Virtual Private Network) A private network that is configured within a public network (a carrier's network or the Internet) in order to take advantage of the economies of scale and management facilities of large networks. solutions for large customers, and pay television and high-speed Internet services through its broadband cable network. The Joint Global Co-ordinators of the Telstra share offer are ABN AMRO Rothschild, Credit Suisse First Boston Credit Suisse First Boston was originally the trading name of the Financière Crédit Suisse-First Boston, a London-based 50-50 investment banking joint venture formed in 1978 between the First Boston Corporation and Credit Suisse. and J.B. Were & Son. -0- This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, shares in Telstra. A copy of the written prospectus can be obtained from: Joseph D. Fashano Credit Suisse First Boston 11 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10010 CONTACT: Telstra Steve Wright, (61-3) 9634-2774 National Manager-Media Relations or Burson Marsteller/New York Scott Kates, 212/614-4000 |
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