Sweden is seeking advisers through a tender to help manage state-owned companies with combined annual sales of 425 billion crowns ($56.6 billion), a move that could pave the way for a privatisation of key holdings.
Officials at the Department of Trade and Industry said on Friday that the tender, which opened in July, would close at the end of August.
"This involves all kinds of transactions. It could be related to...changes in ownership," said one senior official.
The tender follows Sweden's decision in May to appoint nine advisers to help manage smaller state-owned assets.
"The major difference from the existing agreement (for the previous tender) is that we are now focusing on mid cap and large cap companies regarding the execution of possible transactions," the official said.
A document obtained by Reuters shows the new tender covers companies with more than 500 million crowns turnover each in 2003 and these would cover the state's prime assets. The previous agreement covered smaller companies.
In 2003 Sweden had 29 state-owned companies with sales over 500 million crowns. According to official documents they posted combined revenues of 425.5 billion crowns.
"The government will sign framework agreements with several bidders...investment banks with varying profiles," the document says. Mandates will extend beyond the next Swedish general election in September 2006.
Prime government stakes include 21 percent of Scandinavian flag carrier SAS and 45 percent of telecom operator TeliaSonera.
It also holds a fifth of the Nordic region's biggest bank Nordea, all of power utility Vattenfall and 7 percent in bourse owner OMHEX.
In May the government picked international investment banks J.P. Morgan, Citigroup, UBS Warburg, Deutsche Bank and Lazard to manage the smaller assets.
The government also appointed Carnegie, Alfred Berg, ABG Sundal Collier and Erne Holm & Haskel as local Nordic advisers.
Eva Halvarsson, director of state enterprises at the Industry Ministry, said at the time the agreements would be for about two years and did not guarantee any work for the banks. She did not discuss fees but said the contracts were to advise on financial questions such as restructurings and small sales.
Halvarsson said there was no list of firms to be privatised but subsequently Reuters reported that rail transport company Green Cargo could be sold to German operator Deutsche Bahn AG.
Sweden has given approval for some or all of Green Cargo - which operates about 80 percent of Sweden's freight trains - to be sold and has named Deutsche Bahn as a candidate.
Investment bankers have said the advisers will be in pole position to be chosen as lead managers - if and when the government decides to privatise any state holdings.
A total of 33 banks had applied to be advisers, according to government documents, including Morgan Stanley, NM Rothschild & Sons, CSFB, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers were advisers, together with Carnegie, on the last mega deal involving Swedish government interests: the $17 billion merger of telecom service providers Telia and Sonera, completed last year.
Morgan Stanley, UBS Warburg, Carnegie, Enskilda advised on the 2000 flotation of Telia.
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