Court to Hear Telenor Claim Against VimpelCom's URS Buy on Apr 5

MOSCOW, Mar 1 (Prime-Tass) -- The Moscow Arbitration Court adjourned on Wednesday until April 5 the preliminary hearings of a lawsuit filed by Norway's telecommunication company Telenor, seeking to void VimpelCom's purchase of mobile operator Ukrainian Radiosystems (URS).

Telenor holds 26.6% in VimpelCom, while Russia's Alfa Group indirectly owns 32.9%.

VimpelCom purchased URS in November 2005 for U.S. $231 million.

Telenor filed the lawsuit, as well as two more, on January 26.

"The second claim is against VimpelCom, five British Virgin Islands and Cyprus companies, and one individual, that Telenor believes were the sellers of URS," Telenor said in late January. "In addition to seeking key information regarding the transaction, this claim seeks to discredit the acquisition of URS on the basis that it was completed in violation of Russian law," Telenor said.

In its third lawsuit, Telenor seeks to find VimpelCom's extraordinary general meeting of shareholders (EGM) held on September 14, 2005, void. At the EGM, VimpelCom's shareholders approved the purchase of URS by a simple majority of votes. The court is expected to hear this claim on April 3.

Telenor opposed the purchase of URS saying that the price was too high. The subscriber base of URS amounted to 260,000 people as of January 1.

It is widely believed Telenor was against the deal as the purchase may create a competitor to Kyivstar, another Ukrainian mobile operator. Telenor holds 56.5% in Kyivstar, while Alfa Group holds 43.5%.

VimpelCom provides telecommunications services in Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

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Posted to the site on 1st March 2006