Greece's OTE clinches TV rights for top European soccer tournaments

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's largest telecoms group ΟΤΕ has secured a deal to broadcast matches of the top two European tournaments for the next three years, it said on Wednesday, in a bid to boost market share amid fierce competition at home. OTE, which is 40 percent owned and managed by Germany's Deutsche Telekom, said its pay-TV unit will broadcast all UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches for three years from July 2015. It did not reveal the cost of the deal. "With Champions League, Europa League and the rest of the top international and Greek sports tournaments hosted by OTE TV, our clients enjoy by far the richest sports content in the country," OTE Chief Operating Officer Zacharias Piperidis said in statement. In a move to defend its market share in a shrinking, austerity-hit telecoms industry, OTE and main rivals Vodafone and Wind have set their sights on Greece's biggest subscription TV provider Forthnet. OTE has offered to acquire Forthnet's pay TV business Nova for 250-300 million euros ($318-380 million). Vodafone and its Greek business partner Wind have also submitted a joint bid to buy the rest of the shares they do not own in Forthnet to challenge OTE's market leadership in Greece. Forthnet has not responded to any of the offers yet. "Following this development, OTE could possibly withdraw its offer for Nova TV or reduce it," said IBG analyst Dimitris Birbos, who has a "buy" rating on OTE shares. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; editing by Susan Thomas)