By Philipp Grontzki
Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE.XE) could buy Bulgarian mobile operator
Globul, which was put up for sale by its owner, Greece's Hellenic
Telecommunications Organization SA (HTO.AT), Deutsche Telekom Chief
Financial Officer Timotheus Hoettges said Thursday.
Deutsche Telekom holds a major stake in Hellenic
Telecommunications Organization, also known as OTE. The comments
indicate that the German telecom giant is willing to help the Greek
operator in its efforts to raise money.
The possible sale of Globul, which had almost 4.4 million
customers at the end of the second quarter, is "part of a strategy
for refinancing 3.4 billion euros ($4.21 billion) of debt maturing
over the next two years," OTE's press office told the Capital
financial weekly in June.
Deutsche Telekom initially bought a stake in OTE in 2008 and
owns 40% of the operator. The holding hasn't developed as expected,
however, as the Greek company is suffering badly from the debt
crisis, and Deutsche Telekom has already booked several writedowns
linked to OTE.
Apart from Bulgaria and Greece, OTE has assets in Romania and
Albania.
Write to Philipp Grontzki at philipp.grontzki@dowjones.com
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