ATHENS -(Dow Jones)- Greece's mobile telephony operator TIM Hellas Telecommunications, Tuesday said its wholly-owned unit, Helen GAC Telecommunications, has completed the acquisition of Q-Telecom, the country's fourth-largest mobile operator.
TIM Hellas, Greece's third-largest, said Q-Telecom will continue to operate as an independent company under the same management team.
On Dec.5, a spokesman for investment fund companies Apax Partners & Co. Ltd and Texas Pacific Group, who bought TIM Hellas in early 2005, told Dow Jones Newswires they intended to keep the two companies separate.
TIM Hellas said the EUR350 million paid for Q-Telecom, which includes a EUR25 million corporate bond of Q-Telecom's former owner Info-Quest, was financed via a combination of borrowings under a bridge facility. This included cash from TIM Hellas and contributions from funds affiliated with Texas Pacific and Apax.
It added it expects to repay money drawn under the facility with proceeds from a tap issuance of EUR200 million principal amount of additional Senior Secured Floating Rate Notes due 2012 by an affiliate.
The offering of the notes is due to close Wednesday. JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank AG acted as financial advisors and lenders under the bridge facility.
Separately, TIM Hellas said the number of its subscribers at the end of 2005 stood at nearly 2.42 million, up from nearly 2.33 million at the end of September.
The average minutes of use per customer increased to 137.7 minutes at the end of the fourth quarter from 134.5 minutes at the end of the third quarter. Over the same period, the blended churn rate fell to 39.2% from 42.5%.
-By Paul Tugwell, Dow Jones Newswires; +30 210 331 2881; paul.tugwell@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires"
Posted to the site on 31st January 2006
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/15869.php