Telekom Srbija again 100-percent Serbian - Stake bought from Greece's OTE for EUR 380 million

Telekom Srbija CEO Branko Radujko and President and Executive Director of Greece's OTE Michael Camas signed today an agreement on the transfer of shares from the Greek company to Telekom Srbija.

This document, by which Telekom Serbia is again fully domestically owned, was signed in the presence of Serbian President Boris Tadic and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic.

The Greek operator will be paid the purchase price of EUR 380 million, and the transfer of shares from Greece's OTE to Serbia's Telekom will also be filed today with the Central Registry. The state will then hold an 80-percent stake in Telekom Srbija, while the remaining 20% of shares will remain in the company's possession.

In order to finance the acquisition of aforementioned stake, Telekom Srbija took out a EUR 470 million loan from a consortium of banks.

Of the total amount of that loan, EUR 320 million will be spent on the acquisition of a 20-percent stake from OTE, whereas EUR 150 million will be used to refinance Telekom's existing borrowings.

OTE and Telekom Srbija signed an agreement in December 2011 in Athens on the purchase of a 20-percent stake from the Greek telecom firm, and the Managing Board and the Shareholders' Assembly of Telekom Srbija approved that transaction in mid-December 2011.

Greece's OTE and Telekom Italia were sold 49% of shares in Telekom Srbija in 1997, for about DEM 1.56 billion. Italians then bought a 29-percent stake, while Greeks acquired a 20-percent stake in the Serbian telecom firm, and the remaining 51% of shares remained in the possession of the state

Serbia bought back the Italian package in 2003, whereas the stake from the Greek partner will be bought back in the following period fo EUR 380 million.

Negotiations with the Greek company commenced last summer, after an unsuccessful attempt at selling a 51-percent stake in Telekom Srbija.