Buyout firms seek sale of Greek mobile operator for €4bn
TEXAS PACIFIC Group and Apax Partners are seeking to sell TIM Hellas, the Greek mobile operator, for up to €4 billion (£2.7 billion) – just one year after paying €1.1 billion for the company, The Times has learnt.
Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers have been instructed to handle a sale of the group, Greece’s third-biggest mobile operator, and an auction is now under way.
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Vodafone risks massive fine in Greek scandal
Vodafone faces record fines of up to $2150m for its role in an espionage scandal that has shaken the mobile giant’s Greek subsidiary, reports The Guardian.
“… Some 106 mobile phones, including those belonging to the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, leading cabinet members and other high-ranking officials from the country’s armed forces, were monitored by ‘persons unknown’ under the unprecedented surveillance scheme.
… In a report released in June, the watchdog criticised Vodafone for dismantling the bugs before authorities could trace the tappers.”
Source- http://www.textually.org
Technorati : Greece, Mobile, Vodafone
Ice Rocket : Greece, Mobile, Vodafone
Furor continues over unprecedented mobile phone-tapping case
An unprecedented mobile phone-tapping conspiracy targeting Greece’s top political leadership is being investigated (cf yesterday’s post Mobile phone-tapping plot uncovered in Greece). Charges have already been filed by a relevant prosecutor, while the judicial probe will also consider espionage charges, reports Athens News Agency .
“The government on Thursday said the entire phone-tapping plot was discovered when some type of glitch was detected in Vodafone’s systems on March 4, 2005, with the suspect software pinpointed by software experts from multinational Ericsson on March 7, 2005. An order to disable the “ghost program” was given the next day, March 8, 2005, whereas the government was notified by the company two days later.
One of the primary questions that swirled around the east Mediterranean country since Thursday morning is why Vodafone disabled the “ghost programme”, an action that reportedly made tracing the perpetrators difficult.
… Back in Athens, when asked about an even more “cloak-and-dagger” aspect of the ongoing investigation, namely, the suicide of Vodafone’s network design department manager during the period when the phone-tapping was discovered, Roussopoulos said the incident is “real” and is being investigated by police.
… One of the 46 individuals whose mobile phones were tapped was, in fact, identified as an employee of the US embassy in Athens.”
Source- http://www.textually.org
Germanos revenues up 25% in H1
Greece-based telecoms retailer Germanos reported first-half sales up 25.4 percent from a year ago to EUR 538.8 million. Retail sales improved 12.9 percent to EUR 284.2 million, while product distribution sales rose 42 percent to EUR 214.9 million. Operations outside Greece accounted for 30 percent of sales, up from 25.8 percent a year ago, with especially stores in Romania and Bulgaria growing strongly. EBITDA amounted to EUR 43.5 million, up 5.2 percent, while net profit jumped to EUR 143 million from EUR 27.7 million a year earlier on the back of divestment gains. Germanos is in the process of selling its retail activities to Greek mobile operator Cosmote.
Source- http://www.telecompaper.com
Technorati : EBITDA, Germanos, Greece, Mobile
Ice Rocket : EBITDA, Germanos, Greece, Mobile
