Vodafone Share News (VOD)

* Bidders to submit indicative offers by Nov. 16 - sources * T-Mobile Netherlands valued at up to 3 bln euros - sources * Telecom and cable operators could enter race - sources (Updates with comments from Deutsche Telekom CEO) By Arno Schuetze and Pamela Barbaglia FRANKFURT/LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile Netherlands division has drawn interest fromprivate equity groups Apax and CVC, which are putting thefinishing touches to their rival bids, sources familiar with thematter told Reuters. The unit, which lags competitors KPN and Vodafone in the market, could be valued at up to 3 billion euros,and is being sold in an auction process led by Credit Suisse,the sources said. The bidders have been asked to submit indicative offers byNov. 16. Deutsche Telekom is weighing an exit from the Netherlandsbecause it is a very competitive market where consumers arequickly shifting to all-included mobile and fixed bundles. OnWednesday local player Tele2 launched its long-awaited mobileservice, a move that could pressure prices. Other investment firms, including U.S. buyout funds BainCapital and Providence, are also expected to enter the race, thesources said. It remains to be seen whether any telecom or cable companieswill emerge as bidders, but some of the sources said Frenchentrepreneur Xavier Niel's telecoms group Iliad andcable group Liberty Global could be interested in theasset. Liberty is already present in the Netherlands as cableprovider Ziggo, and is awaiting approval to buy a mobileoperator in Belgium as it bets more on all-inclusive bundles ofservices. Spokesmen at Deutsche Telekom, Liberty Global, and theprivate equity funds declined to comment. Iliad could notimmediately be reached for comment. Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Tim Hoettges said onWednesday "in the Netherlands, we have to find our way in adifficult landscape." Speaking at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference in Barcelona,he said the company has been unable to define a "strategicpositioning that will create value in the Dutch market." T-Mobile Netherlands has seen its earnings before interest,taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) take a hit thisyear, with a 17 percent decline to 382 million euros in thefirst nine months of the year. If the slide continues at the same pace, its annual coreearnings would then plunge from 630 million euros in 2014 toroughly 520 million euros this year. Buyout funds estimate its core earnings to come in at around450 million euros next year. One telecoms banker said Liberty will look at the DutchT-Mobile operations but it will more likely go to a privateequity firm for 6 to 6.5 times EBITDA. Liberty is seen as being able to pay more than privateequity firms for the operations due to synergies between theiroperations, but it could have already purchased them if itintended to, the banker said. Berenberg's analyst Paul Marsch said earlier this year thatT-Mobile Netherlands was worth 6 times its EBITDA. "Applying 6 times to the Netherlands ... might raise a feweyebrows given that the broader European telecoms sector istrading at closer to 8 times, but Deutsche Telekom's Dutchoperation is underperforming in a market which we think will seeincreased competitive tension with the launch of Tele2's 4Gservice," he said in a note. Deutsche Telekom's options for the unit include apartnership, merging T-Mobile Netherlands with another group, orswapping it for a minority stake in another company, the sourcessaid. Deutsche Telekom's decision to put the Dutch mobile operatoron the block is part of a plan to become a packaged serviceprovider, which includes internet as well as television andmobile, sources told Reuters last month. (Additional reporting by Harro ten Wolde in Frankfurt and LeilaAbboud in Paris; Editing by William Hardy and David Evans)