LJUBLJANA, March 12 (Reuters) - Slovenia's telecoms provider Telekom Slovenia said on Thursday it submitted a binding bid for Cosmofon, the second largest mobile phone operator in Macedonia.
Cosmofon, owned by Greek company OTE, is due to be sold for antitrust reasons after Deutsche Telekom bought 25 percent of OTE last year.
Top Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell said earlier in March it hoped to buy Cosmofon, while Telekom Austria and Turkish fixed-line operator Turk Telekom have also expressed interest.
Telekom is Slovenia's second listed company with market capitalisation of 833 million euros ($1.06 billion) and is the leading fixed-line, mobile and internet provider in the country. It has units in Macedonia, Bosnia, Gibraltar, Kosovo and Albania.
Telekom said last year it was hoping to buy Cosmofon and was also looking for other takeover opportunities in the Balkans.
Shares of Telekom rose 0.55 percent on Thursday to 128.2 euros while the blue-chip SBI index lost 0.54 percent.
(Reporting by Marja Novak, Edited by David Cowell) ($1=.7826 Euro) Keywords: SLOVENIA TELEKOM/ (marja.novak@reuters.com; 386-1-47-00-545; Reuters Messaging: marja.novak.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Cosmofon, owned by Greek company OTE, is due to be sold for antitrust reasons after Deutsche Telekom bought 25 percent of OTE last year.
Top Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell said earlier in March it hoped to buy Cosmofon, while Telekom Austria and Turkish fixed-line operator Turk Telekom have also expressed interest.
Telekom is Slovenia's second listed company with market capitalisation of 833 million euros ($1.06 billion) and is the leading fixed-line, mobile and internet provider in the country. It has units in Macedonia, Bosnia, Gibraltar, Kosovo and Albania.
Telekom said last year it was hoping to buy Cosmofon and was also looking for other takeover opportunities in the Balkans.
Shares of Telekom rose 0.55 percent on Thursday to 128.2 euros while the blue-chip SBI index lost 0.54 percent.
(Reporting by Marja Novak, Edited by David Cowell) ($1=.7826 Euro) Keywords: SLOVENIA TELEKOM/ (marja.novak@reuters.com; 386-1-47-00-545; Reuters Messaging: marja.novak.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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