Saudi's Arabsat inks $278m Greek deal

Greece's biggest telecoms operator OTE has agreed to sell its satellite unit Hellas SAT to Saudi Arabia-based Arabsat for 208 million euros ($278m) as part of measures to cut its debt.

OTE, managed and partly-owned by Germany's Deutsche Telekom, has been cutting costs and selling assets to cope with its debt load amid a severe austerity-fuelled recession in its two biggest markets, Greece and Romania.

"We achieved a significant agreement," said OTE's chief executive Michael Tsamaz in a statement adding that the value of the deal was "satisfying".

The transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of the year, OTE said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/saudi-s-arabsat-inks-278m-greek-deal-488729.html