An acquisition company owned by private equity funds advised by Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and Apax Partners (Apax) has today signed a conditional acquisition agreement with TIM International NV (TIM) for the acquisition of its 80.87% shareholding in Greek wireless operator TIM Hellas Telecommunications SA.

The purchase price for TIM's shareholding in TIM Hellas is €1,114.1mn, equivalent to approximately €16.43 per share, representing a premium of 17.6% to TIM Hellas' six month average ADR price based on the current exchange rate. The acquisition agreement is conditional upon, among other things, obtaining approval from the relevant regulatory and competition authorities. The transaction is expected to close by July 2005.

Following completion of the acquisition of TIM's shareholding, it is intended that the remaining shares of TIM Hellas will be acquired at the same price of approximately €16.43 per share, through a cash merger under Greek law. Philippe Costeletos and Matthias Calice led the deal for TPG. Commenting on the acquisition, TPG partner Philippe Costeletos said: "We are delighted to be working with this excellent management team led by Mr. Kominakis in establishing TIM Hellas as a standalone Greek company. We remain committed to providing management with the resources necessary to invest in infrastructure, provide innovative products and services to customers, and continue to grow the business. We believe this first significant private equity investment in Greece is an exciting opportunity for the Company and reflects the potential for future investments in Greek companies".

Giancarlo Aliberti, partner, and Nikos Stathopoulos, director, led the deal for Apax. They said: "We are pleased to back Mr Kominakis and his team at this exciting time in TIM Hellas' development. This is a great opportunity for Apax Partners to use its expertise gained from years of investing successfully in the telecoms industry to work with TIM Hellas' management to create value and help the company realise its growth potential. We are also excited about investing in a promising Greek market. We look forward to investing in TIM Hellas' future and building on its strengths."

TIM Hellas Telecommunications SA (NASDAQ: TIMHY, Amsterdam: TIMHY) was incorporated in Greece on 28 July 1992 to provide GSM mobile telecommunications services in Greece, in accordance with the provisions of the Greek telecommunications law. Since February 2004, the company has operated under the TIM brand name and offers network access and related value-added services. TIM Hellas has been offering full commercial GPRS services since June 2001, and obtained a UMTS license in July 2001. At December 31, 2004, TIM Hellas had 2.3 million customers. For the 2004 financial year TIM Hellas reported sales of approximately €840mn and operating income of approximately €121mn.