Russian operator MTS announced it lost its appeal against an earlier ruling forcing it to buy a 49% stake in Kyrgyz mobile operator Bitel.
On 11 November 2010 an arbitration court compelled MTS Finance to buy Nomihold Securities’ remaining 49% stake in…
Russian operator MTS announced it lost its appeal against an earlier ruling forcing it to buy a 49% stake in Kyrgyz mobile operator Bitel.
On 11 November 2010 an arbitration court compelled MTS Finance to buy Nomihold Securities’ remaining 49% stake in Tarino for US$170m plus interest, US$5.88m in dividends and to compensate it for related costs.
An international arbitration tribunal constituted under the rules of the London Court of International Arbitration rejected MTS’s appeal on the November decision.
MTS Finance bought 51% of Tarino from Nomihold at the end of 2005. Tarino was believed to be the indirect owner of Kirgiz mobile operator Bitel. However, three days after the transaction was announced, Russian company Rezervspetsmet, which is thought to be related to Altimo, challenged the deal in court, claiming to be the rightful owner of Bitel. The claim was upheld by the court. In 2006, Rezervspetsmet transferred all Bitel’s assets to Sky Mobile, which was acquired by Altimo in June 2006. In February 2007, Nomihold Securities, a unit of Kazakhstan’s Alliance Capital, took legal action to force MTS to exercise the option to buy its 49% stake in Bitel for US$170m.
