A long-running legal dispute over the ownership of second-placed Polish mobile operator Polkomtel has concluded with both sides claiming victory.

Vodafone, which owns a 19.6% stake in Polkomtel, launched legal action in 2006 to block the decision by Danish operator TDC to sell its own 19.6% stake in the operator to a group of Polish state-owned companies that make up Polkomtel’s majority shareholding. The sale would have lifted the Polish companies’ combined stake in Polkomtel to over 75% but Vodafone blocked the deal arguing it had right of first refusal on the sale of TDC’s stake.

According to the Financial Times, the tribunal has ruled that TDC is allowed to sell 14.8% of its stake to the Polish companies but must enter talks regarding the sale of the remaining 4.8% to Vodafone, which would lift the UK-based group’s shareholding to 24.4%. The report adds that the Polish government’s current privatisation programme could eventually lead to Vodafone taking overall control of the company.

However, the Polish companies, which include government-owned oil group PKN Orlen and mining group KGHM, hinted to Reuters that the matter was far from over. “Vodafone and TDC still need to reach an agreement on the terms of the sale and no one knows how long that will take. It is a question of whether Vodafone wants to continue fighting,” said a KGHM spokesperson. 

The Financial Times cited a source claiming that the Polish companies were looking to secure the TDC stake in order to maximize the value of their shareholding with an eye on a possible future sale to Vodafone.