Norwegian incumbent operator Telenor has increased its stake in Russian mobile giant VimpelCom to 42.95% as it seeks parity with co-shareholder Altimo.
Telenor announced it had acquired 71 million VimpelCom preferred shares from Weather Investments II,…
Norwegian incumbent operator Telenor has increased its stake in Russian mobile giant VimpelCom to 42.95% as it seeks parity with co-shareholder Altimo.
Telenor announced it had acquired 71 million VimpelCom preferred shares from Weather Investments II, Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris’ investment vehicle, which exercised a put option under an agreement originally secured in February. The move saw Telenor increase its stake in VimpelCom by 3.5% for US$113.6m.
Telenor and Altimo, which holds a 40.5% voting stake in the Russian operator, have been locked in a long-running dispute over VimpelCom’s ownership. In April, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) brought a lawsuit against Telenor and Weather, claiming that they jointly controlled the operator’s parent company, OJSC VimpelCom, a purported violation of Russian law. Weather subsequently sold 305 million shares to Altimo.
To ensure parity in VimpelCom, Telenor has called on Altimo to work with the Norwegian group to acquire a 6% stake in the Russian operator, which is held by Bertofan, an investment vehicle controlled by Ukrainian tycoon Viktor Pinchuk, according to a Telenor spokesman.
“To this end, Telenor proposes that Altimo and Telenor offer to buy the preferred shares held by Bertofan for a full and fair price, and in such proportions as will secure equal ownership positions for Altimo and Telenor after such transaction,” he said.
Altimo was unable to comment before the press deadline.
Igor Artemyev, head of the FAS, has been quoted saying Telenor’s stake increase means it has gone against an injunction placed earlier by a Russian court.