Cyta calls for suitors for its Greek arm

Cyprus’s telecoms authority (Cyta) announced on Tuesday the rapid sale of its subsidiary in Greece, Cyta Hellas, inviting any parties interested in acquiring 100 percent of the company to come forward by September 27. Although the deadline might change, it points to the parent company’s eagerness to proceed quickly.

With 300,000 landline clients and a few in mobile telephony and pay TV, Cyta Hellas is seen as an ideal target for an existing market player. On the contrary, it appears unlikely to become a target for a player outside the domestic telecoms market, as the company does not have its own cell network, hiring blocks of time in other networks instead.

There are de facto two candidate investors, Wind Hellas and Vodafone, with the former showing the strongest interest in winning the tender.

Sources say that Cyta will seek the sale of 100 percent of its Greek arm through a share-swap so that there is no requirement for the loss of the value of the funds invested in Cyta Hellas, which to date exceed 200 million euros. Despite the high investment, Cyta Hellas has been loss-making since its foundation.