KPN denies Belgacom deadline

KPN says no deadline has been imposed by Belgacom

Dutch telecoms firm KPN has denied that any deadline has been set for merger talks with the Belgian firm Belgacom.

The Belgian newspaper Le Soir had reported that the Belgian government - which is Belgacom's largest shareholder - had demanded to know by Wednesday whether KPN would accept conditions set by Belgacom's shareholders.

The report said if no decision was reached the talks would end.

But KPN spokesman Marinus Potman on Monday denied any such deadline.

"There is no question of such an ultimatum," he said.

"There is an exchange of letters about outstanding issues, such as the valuation of the companies, and we sent an answer before the weekend.".

Decision this week?

Another press report on Monday, by the UK's Financial Times newspaper, said KPN would decide this week whether to merge with Belgacom.

KPN announced earlier this year that it was looking to merge with another company as it sought ways to cut its estimated debt of 23bn euros.

The attraction of KPN to Belgacom is that it would give it access to a wider European mobile phone network.

KPN said Belgacom was its preferred partner but talks between the two sides have dragged on now for several months.

As the talks have gone on doubts have begun to increase that the merger would go ahead, with speculation that KPN might decide to sell off parts of its business to cut its debt.