Panafon Hellenic Telecom Co S.A. 19 February 2002 PRESS RELEASE 19 February 2002 Merger of Panafon - Vodafone and NextNet Approved Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications S.A ('Panafon - Vodafone') announce that the Ministry of Development in Greece has approved the merger of Panafon - Vodafone and NextNet S.A. (approval number K2 - 1548/18-2-2002). The approval of the Ministry of Development follows the approval of the merger by the Board of Directors of the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday 1 February 2002. Following the merger approvals Panafon's share capital has increased to GRD 61,094,301,015 (from GRD 59,020,966,758), divided into 543,314,000 (from 534,126,396) common registered shares with euro 0.33 (GRD 112.44) par value each. The new Panafon - Vodafone shares are expected to start trading on the Athens stock within a week (a separate announcement with the exact date will be made). Major shareholders in Panafon - Vodafone are as follows: Before the merger: Number of shares (Percentage) VODAFONE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS B.V 230,625,000 (43.2%) DATA HOLDINGS S.A 51,250,000 (9.6%) FRANCE TELECOM SA 58,948,830 (11.0%) INTRACOM S.A 51,250,000 (9.6%) FREE FLOAT 146,902,566 (27.5%) Total Shares 534,126,396 (100%) After the merger: Number of shares (Percentage) VODAFONE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS B.V 230,625,000 (42.45%) DATA HOLDINGS S.A 51,250,000 (9.43%) FRANCE TELECOM SA 58,948,830 (10.85% *) INTRACOM S.A 51,250,000 (9.43%) FREE FLOAT 151,240,170 (27.84%) Total Shares 543,314,000 (100%) * France Telecom percentage includes 8.02% exchangeable notes exchanged to Panafon shares --Ends-- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange