Greek tragedy

20 October 2005 By Mike Verdin

Texas Pacific and Apax recently ditched a bid for Greece’s QTelecom but quickly returned offering some 30% more for the mobile operator. The fluff is a sign of growing competition for telecoms assets and private equity s desperation to secure deals.

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Apax Partners and Texas Pacific Group, the private equity groups, agreed to buy QTelecom from InfoQuest, the Greek IT company, for E350m. The deal includes E25m of debt.

QTelecom, Greece's fourthranked mobile operator, is expected to achieve ebitda of about E30m this year.

Apax and TPG in July entered talks on a E250m deal but failed to reach agreement before a period of exclusivity ended in August. InfoQuest in September rejected a E280m bid from the buyout companies.

"We think this is a fair price given the continued growth prospects of the company," TPG and Apax said in a statement to Breakingviews.

"This investment in QTelecom confirms our commitment to the Greek market and our consistent approach in the telecoms sector."

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