France Telecom plans directory IPO.

Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France

France Telecom SA Tuesday, June 22, launched the initial public offering of its directories arm, PagesJaunes SA, with a target market value of [Euro]3.61 billion to [Euro]4.17 billion ($4.37 billion to $5.05 billion), toward the bottom of analysts' expectations.

But France Telecom CFO Michel Combes, who is also chairman of PagesJaunes, insisted the price was consistent with his group's earlier valuation of the business at [Euro]3.95 billion-plus.

"In every flotation there is a discount of 5% to 10%," he said on a conference call. "Without the discount, the valuation is [Euro]4 billion to [Euro]4.5 billion." …