The Egyptian telecoms magnate Naguib Sawiris could be set to hold as many seats on the board of the Russian operator Vimpelcom as either of its two other main shareholders, according to media reports.
Reuters reported yesterday that the CEO of Altimo,…
The Egyptian telecoms magnate Naguib Sawiris could be set to hold as many seats on the board of the Russian operator Vimpelcom as either of its two other main shareholders, according to media reports.
Reuters reported yesterday that the CEO of Altimo, Alexei Reznekovich, had said that his company expected the representation on the board between Vimpelcom’s three main shareholders – Altimo, Sawiris, and the Norwegian telco Telenor – will be nearly equal.
He reportedly put forward one scenario in which there would be three independent directors, as well as well as three directors nominated by each of the three shareholders.
Reznekovich reportedly said that in the future there must be at least three independent directors on the board, with the chairman of the board having the deciding vote.
This follows the closure of the US$6bn merger deal between Vimpelcom and Naguib Sawiris’ telecoms vehicle, Wind Telecom, on 15 April.
The merger means that the Sawiris family now holds a 30.6% voting interest and a 20% economic interest in Vimpelcom.
On the same day the deal was completed, Altimo said in a statement that it was going to trigger the termination of its current shareholder agreement with Telenor in order to ensure proportional rights for all minority shareholders and to avoid conflicts between the major shareholders.
In the light of developments, it said that it believed “the current Shareholders’ agreement is no longer appropriate, and that efficient corporate governance will be delivered by more standard governance arrangements”.
It said that it would trigger the termination of the shareholders agreement by selling enough of its preferred shares to bring its voting interest down to under 25%.
Once the deal has been terminated, a new set of bylaws will come into force at the company. According to Altimo, these would not contain preferential rights for any shareholders.
On January 31, before the merger deal was completed, Telenor held a 39.58% economic stake and 36.03% voting interest in Vimpelcom.
Altimo held a 39.9% economic stake and 44.65% voting interest in Vimpelcom on the same date.
Vimpelcom would not comment. Altimo and Wind Telecom did not reply to questions before the press deadline.
