Telekom Srbija to borrow EUR 470 million from 19 banks

Telekom Srbija announced today it had signed had signed a three-year EUR 470 million loan agreement with 19 domestic and international banks.

Telekom Srbija said it would use 320 million euros of that loan to buy back the 20-percent stake in itself from Greece's OTE, whereas EUR 150 million would be used to refinance existing borrowings.

As it was announced, banks that have granted a loan to Telekom are the following: members of the banking group Credit Agricole, Erste, Eurobank EFG, Komercijalna Banka Belgrade, Intesa Sanpaolo, Raiffeisen, Societe Generale and UniCredit, as well as Hypo-Alpe-Adria Bank, OTP, Piraeus Bank and Vojvodjanska Banka in coordination with UniCredit.

Telekom Srbija and Deutsche Telekom unit OTE agreed the 380 million euros purchase last month to make it easier for Belgrade to find a new investor for the company.

The purchase of the stake will be finalized by the end of the first quarter of 2012, the company said.

Telekom Srbija's Managing Board and Shareholders' Assembly approved the acquisition of a 20-percent stake from the minority partner in mid-December 2011.

OTE owns 20% of shares in Telekom Srbija since 1997, whereas remaining 80% of shares are in the possession of the Serbian government.

The government last year rejected a EUR 1.1 billion offer from Telekom Austria for a 51-percent stake in Telekom Srbija, saying the bid needed to be at least 300 million euros higher.

Telekom Srbija should soon be transformed into an open joint-stock company, after which free shares in that company will be distributed among the current and former employees of Telekom and the citizens who have acquired the right to these shares.