Greek OTE to Sell Bulgarian Unit Globul

Greek telecommunication group Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, known as OTE, is selling its unit in Bulgaria.

The revenues from the sale of Globul, Bulgaria's second-biggest mobile operator, are to help OTE pay its obligations on bonds maturing in the next two years, according to the OTE's press office, as cited by Capital Daily.

Globul's senior management and officials have already been informed about the decision taken several days ago by the Greek company's board of directors.

According to unconfirmed reports, OTE has hired the London unit of US Citigroup as a consultant for the sale.

Turkish Turkcell, British Vodafone and Orange (owned by France Telekom) have been listed as potential buyers.

Deutsche Telekom, which controls a 40% stake in OTE, will also have a say in the sale, as will the new Greek government, which still owns the "golden share" in OTE giving it the right to take part in all key decisions.

Globul is the trademark under which Cosmo Bulgaria Mobile EAD offers mobile telecommunications services in Bulgaria.

The company is 100% owned by Cosmote, OTE's mobile phone arm.

As indicated in OTE Group's 2011 financial results, Globul's postpaid customer base increased by 13.3% year-on-year in Q4'2011, reaching 2.6 million, corresponding to over 60% of the total customer base.

Globul total revenues declined by 0.8% in the last quarter of 2011, compared to the same period last year, as the strong performance on handsets sales could not fully compensate for the lower service revenues.

Total revenues for 2011 reached EUR 412.5 M, or 2.6% lower than 2010.

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