Vodafone Greece is in pole position to acquire Greek fixed-line operator and MVNO Cyta Hellas after its bid of €120 million was deemed preferable to a rival offer from Wind, Greek newspaper Business News reported.

Cyta’s Greek operation is being sold by Cyprus Telecommunications Authority and its subsidiary Digimed, which touted the unit out to bidders in September 2017.

Following a December deadline for submissions, the Greek unit of Wind had been cited in several Greek and Cypriot publications as the likely winner. However, reports yesterday (4 January) said Vodafone’s cash-focused offer was deemed preferable. A decision on the sale is expected on Tuesday (9 January).

Cyta Hellas provides consumer and business fixed and broadband services across Greece, in addition to IPTV services. It also runs the country’s only MNVO.

In its latest financial statement, covering 2016 but released in late September 2017, Cyta Hellas said its mobile turnover had increased to €90.8 million with 51,000 connections on its MVNO – comprising both contract and prepay.

Vodafone is the second largest operator in Greece, Q3 2017 GSMA Intelligence figures show, with 5.5 million connections. Wind is the third player in the market with 2.9 million connections. Cosmote leads the market with 7.9 million connections.