Germany’s major telecommunications company, Deutsche Telekom, is about to increase its existing 40% stake in OTE, buying a further 10% from the Greek government.
As reported by the Greek media, Greece and Deutsche Telecom have reached an agreement. However, the Greek Finance Ministry has not yet commented on the matter.
OTE’s worth in the Athens Stock Exchange stands at 6.1 billion euros, giving the stake a market value of about 610 million euros. The Greek state owns 6% of the stake while the remaining 4% is owned by IKA the largest state-run social security organization. Deutsche Telekom with a 40% stake bought in 2008, has a right of first refusal if the Greek government decides to sell any more shares. The remaining 50% is owned by smaller private shareholders.
Selling OTE stakes wasn’t in the initial plans of the Greek government when it launched a privatization program as they wanted to have a minimum say in the operation of Greece’s biggest telecoms company. However, so far privatization revenues are far less than those initially expected.
According to the original terms of the bailout, Greece should have collected 22 billion euros. However, only 2.6 billion euros have been raised from asset sales since a European Union-IMF bailout began in 2010.
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