Greece's Cosmote Receives Binding Offers For Macedonia Unit

Greek mobile operator, Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications, said Friday it had received several binding offers for the sale of its Macedonian unit, Cosmofon.

"Cosmote expresses its satisfaction with the completion of the (bidding) procedure and the offers that were submitted," the company said in a terse statement. "The company will issue a new announcement following the signing of the sales agreement."

The statement didn't disclose who the bidders were or provide any further details.

However, it follows public announcements by Turkey's largest mobile phone operator, Turkcell (TKC), Telekom Slovenije DD (TLSG.LJ), Turkish fixed-line telephone company Turk Telekom (TTKOM.IS) that they have submitted binding offers for Cosmofon.

Previously, Telekom Austria AG (TKA.VI) also expressed an interest in bidding for the Macedonian company.

Cosmote is the wholly-owned mobile subsidiary of Greece's Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (OTE) and has a commanding presence in the Balkans, operating networks in Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria and Romania.

Last year, Deutsche Telekom AG (DT) - which operates its own mobile network in Macedonia - acquired a 25% stake in OTE. As a result of that tie-up, Macedonian anti-trust authorities have forced OTE to sell its Cosmofon unit.

According to analyst estimates, OTE hopes to raise EUR200 million from the sale.

Web sites: www.cosmote.gr; www.ote.gr

-By Alkman Granitsas, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]