The Hellenic Republic finally launched its well flagged sale of a further 8% stake in Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) yesterday (Thursday). The sale of about 40.3m shares would, at the current share price, raise Eu684.3m. OTE closed yesterday afternoon at Eu16.98, down 3.1% from Wednesday's close.
The sale has been warmly received by OTE as it will remove a large overhang. The government had made clear its plans to sell the 8% stake this year, but the timing was not known until an announcement on the Athens Stock Exchange yesterday.
"We welcome this development and especially the fact that this placement will remove the overhang in OTE shares," said Lefteris Antonacopoulos, chairman and chief executive of OTE.
Investors purchasing the shares in the placement will be entitled to a dividend to be approved by a shareholders meeting of OTE on June 19. The Hellenic Republic has agreed to a lock-up of 180 days on sales of its remaining 33.7% OTE stake.
Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley were appointed to lead the offering with EFG Telesis Finance acting as joint lead manager.