New set of buyers for OTE’s Romania arm

Athens-listed OTE telecom group is heading toward the sale of Telekom Romania Mobile, its 100% owned Romanian mobile telephony subsidiary, with a new composition of buyers.

As announced on Thursday, Digi Romania and Vodafone Romania are together the leading candidates for the acquisition of Telekom Romania Mobile (TKRM). This is after the departure of the owner of the media group Clever Media Network, Adrian Tomsa, with whom OTE had signed a memorandum of cooperation in November 2023, from the planned transaction. 

The exact structure of the scheme of buyers has not become known yet. However, if the Romanian authorities approve the deal, it is estimated that rivals Digi Romania and Vodafone Romania will share different assets of OTE’s subsidiary in Romania, where Babis Mazarakis is the CEO. It is noted that Digi Romania participated in the previous scheme of investors, while Vodafone Romania is entering the list of potential buyers of TKRM for the first time.

“The parties have signed a memorandum of cooperation and are in the process of submitting an application for approval to the relevant Romanian authorities (RCC, FDI, ANCOM). The memorandum provides that certain assets of TKRM will be acquired by Digi, while the remaining assets and the company will be acquired by Vodafone Romania. The completion of the transaction is subject to the signing of the share purchase agreement and the documentation of the transaction, as well as approvals by regulatory authorities,” OTE announced.

Vodafone Romania’s assets include corporate and private customers and subscribers, infrastructure (antennas and mobile towers), rights to use radio spectrum etc. Managing Director of Vodafone Romania Achilleas Kanaris announced that the ongoing transaction will allow the operator to contribute to the strengthening of the local telecommunications market “in order to obtain a leading position in Europe.” 

“The transaction, the completion of which will release important development prospects, shows the commitment of the British group to constantly investing in the Romanian market. Since I assumed the position of CEO of Vodafone Romania, I have been convinced that the right conditions must be created to support investments in 5G networks and innovation,” noted Kanaris.