TeliaSonera and Russian Altimo to set up joint venture

eliaSonera and Altimo plan to force Turkey’s Çukurova Group out of Turkcell

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Nordic telecommunications operator TeliaSonera is combining forces with Altimo - the telecommunications arm of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group. The two companies have struck a deal to combine their shares in mobile operators Turkcell and Megafon to create a new joint company. The aim of the move is to force Turkey’s Çukurova Group out of Turkcell.
      “I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement with Altimo to combine our efforts in resolving the legal disputes, which have been going on far too long”, says Lars Nyberg, President and CEO of TeliaSonera.
     
Çukurova is a Turkish media group, with which TeliaSonera and Altimo have had a persistent spat over Turkcell shareholdings. Despite prolonged negotiations that have lasted for years, the issues have remained unsolved.
      Megafon, in turn, is the third largest teleoperator in Russia. TeliaSonera and Altimo’s shares of the company are 44 and 25 per cent respectively.
      Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov’s AF Telecom owns the remaining 31 per cent of Megafon’s stock.
      According to Nyberg, TeliaSonera’s ownership of the established joint venture now depends on whether AF Telecom will also join in.
      “We have agreed that none of the owners will have control over the new company. The Russian side will have as many seats on the board as the Swedish-Finnish side”, Nyberg says.
     
If AF Telecom joins the venture, TeliaSonera’s ownership of the established company will be about 40-42 per cent, Nyberg reckons. Should AF Telecom choose to stay out, TeliaSonera’s ownership would be significantly larger than that of Altimo’s.
      The idea is to list the new company on the New York Stock Exchange and it “will be established in a western jurisdiction”.
      TeliaSonera and Altimo have several overlapping business activities in Central Asia, where both companies own teleoperators. Furthermore, Altimo is the principal owner of Russia’s second largest teleoperator Vimpelcom, which is one of Megafon’s closest competitors.
      “After long discussions we concluded that this is not a problem as every company has its own independent board”, Nyberg says.
      An important part of the deal is also the fact that Altimo has agreed to consent to TeliaSonera’s plan to buy from Turkcell the remaining 41 per cent of the holding company Fintur’s shares.
      Fintur Holdings, domiciled in The Netherlands, has a controlling interest in numerous telecoms operators in Central Asia and Georgia.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  TeliaSonera Turkcell deal founders at last minute (24.5.2005)
  TeliaSonera gets majority holding in Turkish operator Turkcell (29.3.2005)

Links:
  TeliaSonera
  TeliaSonera Press Release

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