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Tuesday, 05 February 2008 |
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Telenor gives the green light for the sale of its stake in Golden Telecom to a Vimpelcom investment subsidiary in a consolidation (and conciliation?) move.
Telenor of Norway today announced that it had agreed to sell its 18.3% holding in Golden Telecom, the US-listed Russian fixed-line telco, to mobile operator Vimpelcom. The move will facilitate the 100% acquisition of GT by Vimpelcom, in which Telenor in turn holds a 33.6% stake. Telenor’s shares in GT are valued at just under US$775mn under the terms of the takeover.
Relations between Telenor and Vimpelcom’s controlling shareholder, Alfa Group, have been beset by legal and commercial disputes over the years. Alfa holds a 26.6% stake in Golden Telecom through its Altimo telecom holding company (formerly known as ‘Alfa Telecom’). The comparatively peaceful resolution in this instance suggests a thaw in relations between the Telenor and Alfa camps.
"We have today tendered all our shares in Golden Telecom," said Jan Edvard Thygesen, Executive Vice President and head of Telenor's CEE operations; "we are proud to be a part of this major transaction in the New Economy in Russia."
Jim Chalmers
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