OTE: Shares Being Sold To Greek, International Investors"

ATHENS -(Dow Jones)- The Greek government has begun placing a 10.7% stake in Hellenic Telecommunications Organzation (OTE), the company said in a statement Thursday.

The size of the offering is 52,446,092 common shares, the statement said.

The placement will take place through an accelerated book building process to international and Greek qualified investors via a private placement, the OTE statement said.

"All the shares to be offered are existing shares listed on the Athens Exchange and currently held by the Hellenic Republic," the statement added.

At 0835 GMT, OTE shares were up 3.27% at EUR22.10.

The Greek government currently holds a 38.7% stake in OTE and wants to sell down that stake as the centerpiece in its EUR1.7 billion privatization program for 2007.

In September last year, it announced plans to search for a strategic investor in the firm - targeting other European telecom operators - and aimed to strike a deal by February this year.

However, difficulties in finding a strategic investor had led the government to repeatedly delay an announcement of its plans.

In the past several months, Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis has suggested that the government was instead likely to proceed with a placement with various foreign and domestic investors.

Company Web site: www.ote.gr

-By Alkman Granitsas, Dow Jones Newswires; +30 210 331 2881; alkman.granitsas@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 28th June 2007