Orange reportedly requested a €24 million reduction to the final price it agreed to pay Greek operator OTE for a controlling stake in Telekom Romania Communications (TKR), around six months after the deal completed.

Romanian business newspaper Ziarul Financiar reported Orange had asked OTE for a cut to the deal price of €268 million for a 54 per cent stake, after recently gaining full access to the Romanian operator’s financial statements.

Orange announced the deal to acquire TKR in November 2020, as part of a move to boost its converged offering in Romania. The deal completed almost a year later in September 2021.

However, since completion, Orange reportedly analysed TKR’s financial statements in detail, leading it to believe it may have overpaid.

OTE is yet to reply to Orange’s request, but the contract agreed does provide the possibility for adjusting the final price, Ziarul Financiar added .

TKR is Romania’s second-largest fixed line player and it also operated an MVNO service. The €268 million deal gave the company a total enterprise value of €497 million.