DT’s purchase of OTE stake cleared by small parliamentary majority

Greece’s parliament yesterday voted to approve German giant Deutsche Telekom’s (DT) purchase of a 25% stake in the country’s former monopoly telco OTE, by 151 votes to 144. Under the terms of the agreement, which remains subject to regulatory approval, the Greek government and DT will each hold a 25% stake in OTE, and DT will assume management responsibility, whilst Greece may sell up to a further 15% in the incumbent at a later date. OTE includes mobile subsidiary Cosmote, which operates GSM networks across the Balkan countries of southeastern Europe.