German-US consortium bids EUR 227 million for 75 percent stake in Kosovo Telecom

A German-US consortium has offered 277 million euros ($360 million) to buy a majority stake in the Kosovo Post Telecom company (PTK), double the amount bid by a group from Lebanon, an official said Friday.

After the two bids were made public, Economic Development Minister Besim Beqaj said he expected the government would decide on the buyer during its next session, which is as yet unscheduled.

The leading bidder for the 75 percent stake in Kosovo's most profitable company consists of Hamburg-based ACP Axos Capital Gmbh and US-based private investment firm Najafi Companies.

If the government approves the deal, it will retain a 25 percent stake in PTK, which has more than one million mobile subscribers and around 100,000 landline users.

This is the second attempt to sell PTK. The first one in 2011 failed after a corruption scandal that involved top PTK executives.