Norway’s Telenor has named Stein-Erik Vellan as the incoming CEO of recently-acquired Bulgarian mobile operator Globul following the European Commission’s approval of the deal.
Yesterday the EC cleared Telenor’s acquisition of Globul and telecoms…
Norway’s Telenor has named Stein-Erik Vellan as the incoming CEO of recently-acquired Bulgarian mobile operator Globul following the European Commission’s approval of the deal.
Yesterday the EC cleared Telenor’s acquisition of Globul and telecoms retailer Germanos from Greek incumbent OTE for €717m (US$939m) on a cash and debt free basis.
The Oslo-based telecoms group agreed to buy the Bulgarian businesses in late April and subsequently issued a bond worth about US$1.35bn to support the buyout.
Vellan will be formally appointed as CEO of Globul, Bulgaria’s second largest mobile operator with a market share of 36%, when the deal is finalised, Telenor said in a statement. Telenor expects this to happen in Q3 this year.
A former CEO of Telenor Serbia, Vellan most recently served as head of mobile at Telenor Norway.
Telenor noted that he has “vast experience” in the CEE region, having led Telenor Serbia through an “important transitional phase” during his two and a half years at the helm. He then served as managing director of Uninor, the group’s JV in India, during its upstart phase. Vellan has also been a part of Telenor’s Nordic management team, heading up the Norwegian business market division.
Telenor’s European head, Kjell Morten Johnsen, said he is confident Vellan’s experience at Telenor Serbia and regional knowledge will help Globul “in further developing the company’s position as the country’s second-largest mobile operator”.
Present in Bulgaria since 2001, Globul reported 4.5 million subscribers at the end of 2012. Together, the mobile operator and Germanos, which is operationally integrated with Globul, generated revenues in 2012 of €378m and EBITDA of €135m.
Telenor’s other CEE operations are in Hungary, Montenegro and Serbia.
