OTE TO SELL ITS ARMENTEL SHARES
Macedonian Press Agency, Greece
April 4 2006
The Greek Telecommunications Company, OTE, announced its decision to
sell its shares in the Armenian telephone company Armentel within the
framework of the new policy it implements regarding its investments
abroad.
According to a relevant announcement, a process has been launched
in consultation with the Armenian government to examine ways to sell
its 90% equity stake in Armentel.
OTE has hired HSBC Bank PLC to act as its financial consultant and
collect bids from prospective buyers.
Armentel serves approximately 595,000 fixed-line telephone subscribers
and 345,000 mobile phone service customers, while its annual turnover
is an estimated 110 million euros.
According to OTE senior executives, there is a great interest in
purchasing Armentel on behalf of Russian operators and Russian and
European Investment Portfolios.
OTE paid 120 million euros in 1997 to purchase Armentel but then it
had serious problems with the Armenian government and as a result,
the company’s value dropped to 60 million euros by the end of 2004.
However, a systematic effort was made during the past year within the
framework of which the initial license was renegotiated and as a result
the problems were fixed, the company was reformed, an environment of
trust was created and the company value recorded a notable increase.