Cosmote buys Albania telecom unit stake for 48.2 mln euro

Greece's Cosmote bought 12.6 percent of the state-owned shares of its Albanian Mobile Communication (AMC) subsidiary for 48.2 million euros The purchase brings Cosmote's stake in AMC to 97.6 percent.

Deputy Economy Minister Enno Bozdo said Cosmote, the mobile arm of Greece's main telecom group OTE had outbid rivals Nexus Private Equity Partners, Bedminster Capital Management and Axos Capital GmbH.

"We consider this as a very successful sale and another vote of confidence of foreign investors in Albania. Its value is all the more as we see the European economy and some Balkan countries showing signs of recession," Bozdo told reporters.

Cosmote bought 85 percent of AMC's shares in July 2000 for $85.6 million, more than twice as much as the nearest rival, a venture of Greece's Panafon and Britain's Vodafone Airtouch.

In the third quarter of 2008, AMC had a revenue of 144.7 million euros and operating income 76.3 from its 1.31 million subscribers in a country of 3.2 million. It faces competition from Vodafone Albania and Turkey's Eagle Mobile.