Private equity firms TPG and Apax Partners are reportedly interested in investing in Wind Hellas as part of the struggling Greek operator’s efforts to restructure its EUR3.2 billion debt, people familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires this week. The report notes that the two private equity firms are both former owners of the company, having been involved in the sale of the operator to Naguib Sawiris’ investment vehicle, Weather Investments, in 2007. Weather Investments also owns Italian mobile operator, Wind Italy, and is a majority shareholder in Egypt-based Orascom Telecom, which is also controlled by Sawiris. 

Dow Jones Newswires notes that Wind Hellas has a complex and highly leveraged capital structure, which consists of a EUR250 million revolving credit facility, a EUR1.22 billion senior secured 2012 note, a EUR355 million senior unsecured 2013 note, a EUR960 million subordinated 2015 note, a US$210 million subordinated 2015 note and EUR266 million of payment-in-kind notes. “This is a serious situation that requires a solution in the near term,” Wind Hellas CEO Emad Barsoum said two weeks ago when announcing the firm’s second-quarter results. According to Wireless Intelligence data, Wind Hellas in the third-largest mobile operator in Greece with 5.2 million connections at the end of 2Q09. Wind Hellas reported second-quarter revenues down 10.6 percent from a year earlier to EUR279.1 million.