Greek OTE sells Bulgaria unit Globul

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Greek telecoms company OTE announced it has reached a deal with Norway’s Telenor over the sale of its Bulgarian unit, for which Turkish telecom company Türk Telekom had placed an offer as well.

OTE, which is controlled by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom said it would receive 717 million euros ($934 million) for its Globul unit, Bulgaria’s second-biggest mobile operator with 4.5 million customers. The deal also includes telecoms retailer Germanos Bulgaria, OTE said in a bourse filing.

Türk Telekom had submitted a binding offer to acquire Bulgarian wireless operator Globul, as a part of its strategy for regional expansion. Turk Telekom has also filed a binding bid for OTE’s retail chain Germanos Telecom Bulgaria. Interested buyers for OTE include the Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell, and Deutsche Telekom, which has 40% stake in OTE.

Cost cuts for OTE

OTE is selling off assets and cutting costs amid Greece’s worst recession since the Second World War.

Following completion of the Globul sale in a few months, OTE will have raised 1.3 billion euros from asset sales since January 2012. Apart from Globul, it has sold its satellite venture, Hellas Sat, and a 20 percent stake in Telekom Serbia.

The Globul deal allows OTE to focus on retaining its clients and winning back customers who have left.
Globul and Germanos accounted for almost 9 percent of OTE’s operating profits in 2012.