Deutsche Telekom Could Buy Bulgaria's Globul - CFO

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 [e-mail]

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