Telekom Austria, in negotiations for taking over part of RomTelecom

Apart from the Greek owners, RomTelecom may have Austrian holders as well, Antena3 TV channel informs. OTE is developing merger negotiations with Telekom Austria and according to media from Vienna, fine tuning has already been reached, and this transaction could be completed even during next months. This is only part of what is preparing. On the other side, the Greek State prepares to sell around half of the shares held in OTE. The groups participating in this maintain silence in relation to discussions, but these have reached an advanced stage, and the transaction is supported by Vienna group, according to the Austrian part.

In fact, the discussions with Telekom Austria have reached the merger aspect after this company having stated its interest to take over at least a part of what the Hellenic State sells. Interest in investment has also been announced by Deutsche Telecom, but this is not certain for the time being. The Greeks look for a strategic investor and provided that this is found, then part of the stock put forward will be sold through the stock exchange. Should the merger be achieved, then a large group will result, with a market capitalisation in excess of EUR 20 bln. and with 26,000 employees. This will have its headquarter in Vienna, which also shows who has the ascendant within the new marriage.

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