A bid from an unnamed strategic partner persuaded the Slovakian government to ditch a planned IPO for the country’s second-largest mobile operator and fixed incumbent.

Finance Minister Peter Kazimir (pictured) said the sale of a 49 per cent stake in Slovak Telekom had been canned because of a higher offer from the mystery bidder, thought to be Deutsche Telekom, said Reuters.

Kazimir would not identify the company, which had offered to top the €750 million potential proceeds from the IPO. He described the offer as “visibly better” and said the government would chew it over in the coming days.

The finger of suspicion pointed to Deutsche Telekom because it already holds 51 per cent of Slovak Telekom.

The plan had been to place the Slovakian operator’s shares on the Bratislava and London stock exchanges before the end of June.