Ote Ads Regulatory News (OTES)

6 Feb 2008 17:26

Hellenic Telecomms Organization S A06 February 2008 HELLENIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS ORGANIZATION S.A. Announcement NOT FOR RELEASE, DISTRIBUTION OR PUBLICATION INTO OR IN THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN OTE ISSUES EUR 2.1 BILLION IN FIXED COUPON BONDS Athens, February 6, 2008 - Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (ASE:HTO, NYSE: OTE), the Greek full-service telecommunications provider, todayannounced that its 100% owned subsidiary, OTE Plc, successfully completed onFebruary 5, 2007 the bookbuilding process for the issues of a 3-year Fixed RateNote of Euro 1.5 billion and a 7-year Fixed Rate Note of Euro 600 million, andthat both tranches were priced yesterday. The 3-year Fixed Rate Note, priced at99.750%, will pay an annual coupon of 5.375%, while the 7-year Fixed Rate Note,priced at 99.705%, will pay an annual coupon of 6%. The bookbuilding wascompleted on the same day, within three hours, and was oversubscribed 3.6 times,with the demand set at approximately Euro 7.5 billion. The proceeds from the issue of the bonds will be used for the refinancing of thebridge facility of OTE Plc, signed in November 2007 and used for the acquisitionof the minorities of Cosmote SA by OTE SA. The total cost of the acquisitionstands at Euro 2.85 billion, partly funded by the bridge facility (Euro 2.1billion) as well as OTE's own cash reserves (Euro 750 million). The bonds will be issued by OTE Plc and will be fully and unconditionallyguaranteed by Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (OTE SA) under itsEuro 6.5 billion Global Medium Term Note Programme. All necessary actions willbe taken for the bonds of each series to be listed on the Luxembourg StockExchange. Settlement is expected to occur on February 12, 2008. Citi, Dresdner Kleinwort, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch International actedas joint bookrunners, and Alpha Bank, EFG Eurobank, Emporiki Bank, NBGI, PiraeusBank and RBS acted as Co-Leads. This announcement is not an offer of securities and appears as a matter ofrecord only. The contents of this announcement have been prepared by and are the soleresponsibility of Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (the "Company")and its 100% owned subsidiary, OTE plc (the "Issuer"). The joint bookrunners,Citigroup, Dresdner Kleinwort, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, and theco-leads, Alpha Bank, EFG Eurobank, Emporiki Bank, NBGI, Piraeus Bank and RBSare acting exclusively for the Company and the Issuer and no one else. The jointbookrunners, Citigroup, Dresdner Kleinwort, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch,and the co-leads, Alpha Bank, EFG Eurobank, Emporiki Bank, NBGI, Piraeus Bankand RBS will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company or the Issuerfor providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, or foradvice in relation to the offer of the bonds (the "Offer"), the contents of thisannouncement or any of the matters referred to herein. The distribution of this announcement and other information in connection withthe Offer may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons into whosepossession this announcement or such other information should come are requiredto inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions. Thisannouncement may not be used for, or in connection with, and does notconstitute, any offer to sell, or an invitation to purchase, any securities. This announcement is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer tobuy any bonds or other securities of the Company or the Issuer (the"Securities") in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. The Securitieshave not been, and will not be, registered under the United States SecuritiesAct of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or soldin the United States unless registered under the Securities Act or an exemptionfrom such registration is available. The Securities have not been and will not be registered under the applicablesecurities laws of Australia, Canada or Japan and may not be offered or soldwithin Australia, Canada or Japan. In the United Kingdom, this announcement is directed only at persons who (i)have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling withinArticle 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FinancialPromotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the "Financial Promotion Order"), (ii) arepersons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies,unincorporated associations etc") of the Financial Promotion Order, (iii) areoutside the United Kingdom, or (iv) are persons to whom an invitation orinducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 ofthe Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) in connection with the issue orsale of any securities may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to becommunicated. This document is directed only at such persons and must not beacted on or relied on by persons in the United Kingdom who are not such persons.Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates isavailable in the United Kingdom only to such persons and will be engaged in onlywith such persons and no other persons in the United Kingdom should rely or actupon this announcement. This announcement may contain certain forward-looking statements relating to thebusiness, financial performance and results of the Company and the Issuer. Thesestatements are based on the Company's and the Issuer's current plans, estimatesand projections, as well as its expectations of external conditions and events.Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties and speakonly as of the date they are made. In particular the words "expect","anticipate", "predict", "estimate", "project", "plan", "may", "should","would", "will", "intend", "believe" and similar expressions are intended toidentify forward-looking statements. A number of important factors, and theinherent risks and uncertainties that such statements involve, could causeactual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in anyforward-looking statements. About OTE OTE Group is Greece's leading telecommunications organization and one of thepre-eminent players in South-eastern Europe, providing top-quality products andservices to its customers. Apart from serving as a full service telecommunications group in the Greektelecoms market, OTE Group has also expanded during the last decade itsgeographical footprint throughout South East Europe, acquiring stakes in theincumbent telecommunications companies of Romania and Serbia, and establishingmobile operations in Albania, Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia and Romania. At present, companies in which OTE Group has an equityinterest employ over 30,000 people in six countries, and our portfolio ofsolutions ranges from fixed and mobile telephony to Internet applications,satellite, maritime communications and consultancy services. Listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, the company trades under the ticker HTO aswell as on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker OTE. In the U.S., OTE'sAmerican Depository Receipts (ADR's) represents 1/2 ordinary share. Additional Information is also available on http://www.ote.gr. Contacts:OTE: Dimitris Tzelepis - Head of Investor Relations Tel: +30 210 611 1574, Email: dtzelepis@ote.gr Nektarios Papagiannakopoulos-Senior Financial Analyst, Investor Relations Tel: +30 210 611 7593, Email: npapagiannakopoulos@ote.gr Daria Kozanoglou - Communications Officer, Investor Relations Tel: +30 210 611 1121, Email: nkozanoglou@ote.gr Marilee Diamanti - IR Coordinator Tel: +30 210 611 5070, Email: mdiamant@ote.gr Christina Hadjigeorgiou - Financial Analyst Tel: +30 210 611 1428, Email: cchatzigeo@ote.gr Forward-looking statement Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts areforward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities LitigationReform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risksand uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially fromexpectations. The factors that could affect the Company's future financialresults are discussed more fully in the Company's filings with the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the Company's AnnualReport on Form 20-F for 2006 filed with the SEC on June 28, 2007. OTE assumes noobligation to update information in this release. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange