Talks are said to have begun, with OTE believed to be keen on a sale as it needs to raise money to cuts its debt after the recession in Greece.
Serbia’s economy minister, Nebojsa Ciric, said earlier this month that the re-acquisition would help Serbia consolidate control in the operator. Telekom Serbia is expected to soon complete technical work for the distribution of free shares to citizens, workers and ex-employees in a move that would see up to 15% of the company’s shares distributed to 4.8 million Serbian citizens.
The Serbian government rejected a €960 million offer from Telekom Austria in April for a 51% share in Telekom Serbia, saying it would accept no compromise on the original €1.4 billion asking price. The rejection was in spite of a commitment by Telekom Austria to invest a further €450 million in the operator over a period to improve its antiquated infrastructure. No further offers were made.
Milutin Nikolic director of wholesale and multimedia at Telekom Serbia spoke to Capacity in May regarding the liberalisation of the company. He said that Telekom Serbia was looking into the content business and likely to extend into media in the future.
