Greek Group OTE To Buy Out Cosmote Hldrs, Take GSM Op Off Athens Bourse

Greek telecom company OTE is obliged by current regulations to acquire the shares it does not hold in Romanian GSM operator Cosmote, for EUR26.25 per share, as Monday, March 31, was the last day of trade for Cosmote on the stock market, OTE announced.

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"Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA, the Greek full-service telecommunications provider, in accordance with the Law 3461/2006 (Article 27) and in conjunction with the Decision 7/466/ 7.3.2008 of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission announces that OTE SA is obliged to acquire the remaining shares of COSMOTE SA which have not been purchased by OTE SA by March 31, 2008 (final trading date)," said a press release issued by OTE, majority shareholder within Romtelecom and Cosmote Romania.

OTE upped its stake in Cosmote to 98.59%, after the offer launched in November 2007 for the purchase of an additional 32.17% of the shares it did not hold in Cosmote.

The takeover offer, worth EUR26.25 per share, expired on January 29, 2008.

The group later announced that the OTE proposition was accepted by over 90% of shareholders and that the group would exercise its right to buy the remaining shares at a similar price, following which, Cosmote would be taken off the Athens bourse.

OTE’s net profit grew by 15.3% in 2007, to EUR662.6 million, while income saw a 7.3% boost, to EUR6.32 billion.

Cosmote, active in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, registered income worth EUR3.06 billion in 2007, up 28.5% against the same period of the previous year. In the same timeframe, the group’s net profit reached EUR361.3 million.

Cosmote had, at the end of 2007, over 15.5 million clients.

OTE is listed on the stock exchanges in Athens and New York.

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