OREANDA-NEWS. "COMSTAR - United TeleSystems" today announced that it has reached an agreement with Intracom Holdings  to subscribe to a 51% stake in Hellas On Line SA's (HoL) for a cash consideration of EUR 47.9 million.

According to Reuter, the closing of the transaction, subject to certain conditions precedent including approval of Greek regulatory authorities, is expected during the first quarter of 2007.

HoL is one of the largest alternative fixed-line operators in Greece and the third largest broadband provider with approximately 12% market share.

HoL's residential client base includes approximately 35,000 broadband and 70,000 dial-up subscribers. The company's revenues in 2005 amounted to EUR 25.6 million, 40% of which were derived from services to residential customers. Broadband penetration in Greece is still relatively low and does not currently exceed 6% of households, while the average penetration level for Western Europe is approximately 36%.

Comstar – United Telesystems, one of the Russia’s largest telecom operators, was formed in May 2004 from merger of Comstar, MTU-Inform and Telmos carriers. The Company’s main shareholder now is AFK SISTEMA, shorthand for Joint-stock Finance Corporation Sistema. In February the company attracted over $1 billion through the IPO.