Norwegian telco Telenor seems to be losing impetus in its fight for control of VimpelCom, with its CEO saying the company would consider offers for its 43% voting stake in the Amsterdam-listed mobile operator.
Asked whether Telenor might sell the stake,…
Norwegian telco Telenor seems to be losing impetus in its fight for control of VimpelCom, with its CEO saying the company would consider offers for its 43% voting stake in the Amsterdam-listed mobile operator.
Asked whether Telenor might sell the stake, CEO Jon Baksaas told the UK’s Financial Times newspaper the company would take a “pragmatic” approach if presented with an offer, acknowledging that “others have a strong appetite”.
Telenor’s stake has a value of around US$6.5bn.
Telenor has not discussed the matter with VimpelCom’s other major shareholder Altimo, Baksaas said, although he pointed out that the investment firm, part of Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group, has always followed an “asset play” strategy.
Baksaas said the matter cannot be looked at as a single, holistic issue, but noted that Alfa has a large amount of money, adding that how the proceeds may be used is beyond his speculation.
Altimo disclosed in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that it had agreed to acquire Ukrainian investor Viktor Pinchuk’s stake in VimpelCom for US$217.5m, boosting its own stake in the operator from 41.85% to 48.85%.
Telenor recently suggested that it and Altimo jointly purchase Pinchuk’s stake, held via Bertofan Investments, in order to resolve their long-running dispute over the ownership and governance of VimpelCom.
Russian regulator FAS, which has filed a lawsuit against Telenor’s February stake increase in VimpelCom alleging it contravenes foreign ownership laws, subsequently backed the proposition and said it hopes an out-of court settlement can be reached ahead of a Moscow Arbitration Court hearing set to begin on 27 November.
Commenting on Altimo’s stake increase, agreed to on 26 October, a Telenor spokesperson said it confirmed its repeated contention that “the Bertofan stake was a mere parking of shares as a tool to annul the shareholders agreement between us”.
“We can only take note of the buyback and that Altimo remains in control of VimpelCom,” he said.
The shareholder agreement between Telenor and Altimo ended in February.
Telenor’s spokesperson added that the company expects the FAS to withdraw its lawsuit, which it contends is groundless.
An Altimo spokesperson said the firm is now satisfied with VimpelCom’s “ownership balance”.
“We hope that this move will settle the conflict between Telenor and FAS, will unblock VimpelCom, free it from litigations, restore normal corporate governance, and allow it to resume paying dividends,” he said.