OTE in talks to sell Romanian mobile unit

OTE and Tomsa's Quantum Projects Group (QPG) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and are seeking approval from the relevant Romanian authorities, OTE said in a filing with the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The value of the potential acquisition has not been disclosed.

Tomsa owns Romania's major media group Clever Media.

Tomsa pledged to transform TKRM into “a local, dynamic, safe operator, dedicated to domestic local customers, which, at the same time, provide support for the major national digitalisation projects that Romania greatly needs,” local news agency News.ro quoted the entrepreneur as saying.

OTE’s potential exit from the Romanian market follows its divestiture of a 54% stake in fixed-line operator Telekom Romania Communications (TKR) to Orange Romania, a unit of France’s Telecom’s internet and mobile brand Orange, in October 2021. A month earlier, OTE had purchased an additional 30% stake in TKRM from its then parent company, TKR, for 58.9 million euro ($64.2 million). Following the acquisition, OTE controlled close to 100% of TKRM. The move was necessary for the regulatory approval of the sale of the 54% stake OTE held in TKR to Orange Romania.

OTE’s largest shareholder is Deutsche Telekom, with a 51.7% stake.

($=0.9174 euro)