German incumbent Deutsche Telekom has yet to be told by the Greek state that it must buy a further 10% in Greek incumbent OTE, reports Bloomberg.
As such, it remains unclear how much DT will have to pay, an official was quoted saying, following a local…
German incumbent Deutsche Telekom has yet to be told by the Greek state that it must buy a further 10% in Greek incumbent OTE, reports Bloomberg.
As such, it remains unclear how much DT will have to pay, an official was quoted saying, following a local report estimating a valuation of E411m.
DT already owns a 30% stake.
Europe’s role in Greece’s plan to raise E50bn by selling off a variety of public assets will be limited to an advisory one, according to reports citing Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou.
Reports earlier in May suggested that DT, which already holds a 30% stake in OTE, was trying to stall its obligatory acquisition of a further 10%. One local report suggested that DT was looking for more leeway to carry out a reorganisation of OTE’s fixed-line operations if it were to acquire the government stake.
DT originally acquired a stake of 25% plus one share in OTE in May 2008. In this deal, it also granted the government two put options to sell further stakes in the company.
Using the first option, the state sold a 5% stake to DT earlier this year.
A DT spokeswoman confirmed that if Greece decides to exercise the 10% put option, DT will have to acquire it. She added that if the government decides to sell additional shares, DT had been granted a pre-emptive right with respect to those.
The state plans to sell down its 20% stake in OTE by the end of Q2 2011. It has announced intentions to exercise a put option on a 10% stake with German incumbent Deutsche Telekom (DT), transfer a 4% stake to the country’s pension fund, and may also look to sell the remaining 6%.
