WIND Hellas

By Eleni Chrepa and Nikos Chrysoloras

Forthnet SA, Greece?s largest pay-TV provider, is speeding up talks with creditors on refinancing, its chief executive officer said.

By Vangelis Mandravelis

Vodafone and Wind Hellas aim to create a major rival to fixed-line telephony market leader OTE through the absorption of Forthnet and Cyta Hellas, which would start with a subscription base of 2 million clients as well as over 500,000 pay-TV subscribers.

By Vangelis Mandravelis

Wind Hellas head Nassos Zarkalis said on Wednesday that the due diligence of rival telecommunications company Forthnet will soon be completed and a joint binding bid by Wind and Vodafone for the country’s main alternative telecom supplier will come after the Christmas holidays.

Greece will raise 381 million euros from the sale of mobile phone frequencies to its biggest telecom operator OTE, Vodafone and Wind Hellas, the minimum price set in the tender, its telecoms regulator said on Monday.

The sale is part of a 22-billion-euro privatization plan agreed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund under a 240-billion-euro bailout.

Greece’s privatization agency (TAIPED) expect to raise 300-380 million euros by March 2015 by auctioning frequencies to cell phone operators.

By Vangelis Mandravelis

Forthnet’s shareholders were not satisfied by the offer submitted on Thursday by Vodafone and Wind Hellas to buy out the shares they do not already own.

The offer by the two mobile network operators that between them hold 39.5 percent of Forthnet came in response to OTE’s bid for Forthnet’s pay-TV operation (Nova).

Greece's biggest subscription television provider Forthnet said on Thursday it had received a joint takeover bid from Britain's Vodafone and its Greek business partner Wind.

By Vangelis Mandravelis

Vodafone and Wind Hellas appear to have countered rival OTE’s offer for the pay-TV operations of Forthnet (Nova). The two telecommunications networks are preparing to submit, or may have already submitted, a new offer for Forthnet in its entirety and not just its pay-TV arm, although neither of the two would officially confirm it on Wednesday.

By Vangelis Mandravelis

OTE, Greece’s dominant telecoms company, announced on Tuesday it has submitted a non-binding proposal to alternative fixed-line operator Forthnet for the acquisition of its market-leading pay-TV platform Nova for 250-300 million euros.

By Vangelis Mandravelis

The telecommunications market in Greece is abuzz with developments as judgment day looms for some of the industry’s main players. This mainly concerns companies currently operating on a razor’s edge such as Hellas Online (HOL) and Cyta Hellas.