Vodafone, Wind seek to acquire Forthnet

A battle for control of Greece's leading alternative fixed line operator has broken out, as Vodafone Greece joined forces with Wind Hellas to try and take control of Forthnet, which also owns pay TV operator Nova.

June 11, 2014

1 Min Read
Vodafone, Wind seek to acquire Forthnet
Greece's Forthnet is in demand

By James Middleton

A battle for control of Greece’s leading alternative fixed line operator has broken out, as Vodafone Greece joined forces with Wind Hellas to try and take control of Forthnet, which also owns pay TV operator Nova.

According to financial statements released Tuesday, Vodafone has moved to acquire 14.58 million Forthnet shares belonging to Wind, which would take Vodafone’s stake in Forthnet from 6.5 per cent to 19.75 per cent, while knocking Wind’s ownership down from 33 per cent to just under 20 per cent. With a combined stake of almost 40 per cent, the two are then expected to put pressure on 44 per cent stakeholder Emirates International Telecom (EIT) to sell out.

Both Wind and Vodafone have tried to make buyout attempts separately in recent months but ETI has pushed the price up. Now the Emirates-based investor is in a much weaker position.

Despite competing, Vodafone Greece and Wind have long collaborated, even being involved in merger discussions in the past. In 2013, the two embarked on an active 2G and 3G network sharing agreement covering rural areas and some urban sites.

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