Norway’s telecoms operator Telenor has decided to offload its 33% stake in Vimpelcom, the Netherlands-based owners of the integrated fixed and mobile Beeline service to concentrate on its core business. The decision was taken “after careful consideration,” its Chairman Svein Asser said last week, after a strategic review highlighted the diffiiculties inherent in holding a minority shareholding with no prospect of gaining full control of the company.
Telenor bought its stake VimpelCom in 1999 in an attempt to expand beyond the Nordic region. The company says that it has invested about $1.9 bn and received about $2.4bn in dividends in return. The value of Vimpelcom’s shares have dropped by about 70% since the start of last year, hit by Russia’s economic slump and the collapse of the rouble.
Telenor to sell $2.4bn stake in VimpelCom
Source: Rosbalt