Greece agrees on OTE sale as sell off race starts
The Greek government has agreed to sell a 10 percent stake in OTE telecom to Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, kicking off efforts to meet goals set in the country?s ambitious privatisation program.
The Bonn-based company said in a statement on Monday that Greece exercised a put option to sell a 10 percent stake in OTE for around 400 million euros.
Once the shares have been transferred as part of the put option, the Greek state will hold 10 percent plus one vote in OTE, with Deutsche Telekom owning 40 percent plus one vote.
Greece has been under growing pressure to get its sell off program off the ground after falling behind in its reforms program and missing targets set in its 2011 budget.
The government is aiming to raise 50 billion euros by reducing stakes in asset, which includes Hellenic Postbank and the Thessaloniki Water
