Greece's Cosmote Receives Binding Offers For Macedonia Unit
13 March 2009 - 9:44PM
Dow Jones News
Greek mobile operator, Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications, said
Friday it had received several binding offers for the sale of its
Macedonian unit, Cosmofon.
"Cosmote expresses its satisfaction with the completion of the
(bidding) procedure and the offers that were submitted," the
company said in a terse statement. "The company will issue a new
announcement following the signing of the sales agreement."
The statement didn't disclose who the bidders were or provide
any further details.
However, it follows public announcements by Turkey's largest
mobile phone operator, Turkcell (TKC), Telekom Slovenije DD
(TLSG.LJ), Turkish fixed-line telephone company Turk Telekom
(TTKOM.IS) that they have submitted binding offers for
Cosmofon.
Previously, Telekom Austria AG (TKA.VI) also expressed an
interest in bidding for the Macedonian company.
Cosmote is the wholly-owned mobile subsidiary of Greece's
Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (OTE) and has a
commanding presence in the Balkans, operating networks in
Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania.
Last year, Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) - which operates its own
mobile network in Macedonia - acquired a 25% stake in OTE. As a
result of that tie-up, Macedonian anti-trust authorities have
forced OTE to sell its Cosmofon unit.
According to analyst estimates, OTE hopes to raise EUR200
million from the sale.
Web sites: www.cosmote.gr; www.ote.gr
-By Alkman Granitsas, Dow Jones Newswires; +30 210 331 2881;
alkman.granitsas@dowjones.com