OTE in talks to sell 20% stake in Telekom Srbija

Deutsche Telekom's Greek unit OTE said it is in talks to sell its minority stake in Serbia's former monopoly Telekom Srbija back to the country's government.
If completed, the sale of the 20% stake could help the Greek company raise cash to cut its debt and invest in new fibre networks as it battles a severe recession in its home market.
Gaining full control over Telekom Srbija would also make it easier for Belgrade to push ahead with long-delayed plans to find a new investor for the company.
The Greek telco acquired its holding in 1997 but it has not been able to do much with the stake because Serbia balked for years at giving up management control or reducing further its 80% stake in the company.
By the time Serbia offered to sell a majority stake in Telekom Srbija in late 2010, OTE was out of the race, hampered by an economic crisis at home. Deutsche Telekom, which owns 40% of OTE and has so far lost almost 1 bln euros on its investment, is pushing the company to cut costs and raise cash.
OTE's minority stake complicates Serbia's search for an investor.
In May, Belgrade rejected a 1.1 bln euro offer by Telekom Austria to buy a 51% stake in the company. Serbia had asked potential buyers to pay at least 1.4 bln euros.