business and economy
Vimpelcom ups stake in Kazakh operator
Russia’s second-largest mobile phone operator Vimpelcom said it had paid $561.8 million for a 25 percent stake in Kazakhstan’s carrier Kar-Tel, bringing its ownership stake to 75 percent.
“The shares were acquired from our partner in Kar-Tel, Crowell Investments Limited. Vimpelcom has an option to buy the remaining 25 percent,” Vimplecom spokeswoman Yelena Prokhorova told Reuters.
Vimpelcom bought 100 percent of Kar-Tel, the second largest cellular operator in Kazakhstan, in September 2004 for $350 million plus the assumption of nearly $75 million in debt. It later sold 50 percent of the company to Crowell Investments Limited, a Cypriot company owned by shareholders of Kazakhstan’s ATF Bank.
At that time, Vimpelcom and Crowell entered into an agreement that granted Vimpelcom a call option to reacquire the stake from Crowell subject to certain conditions.
Vimpelcom, owned by Norway’s Telenor and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group, has more than 52 million clients in Russia and the former Soviet states of Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
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