PRESS: Norway's Telenor Values Ukraine's Kyivstar at $8 Bln

MOSCOW, July 24 (Prime-Tass) -- Norwegian telecommunication company Telenor has valued its Ukrainian subsidiary, Kyivstar, at US$8 billion, Telenor's Executive Vice President Thor Halvorsen said, Vedomosti business daily reported Monday.

Telenor holds a 56.5% stake in Kyivstar, which is Ukraine's largest mobile operator, while the remaining 43.5% is indirectly controlled by Altimo, the telecommunications arm of Russia's Alfa Group, a major industrial and financial holding.

Altimo and Telenor are also key shareholders in Russia?s second largest mobile operator, VimpelCom. VimpelCom in February offered to buy 100% in Kyivstar, which had 16 million subscribers as of June 30, having valued the company at $5 billion.

Although Telenor agreed then with VimpelCom's valuation of Kyivstar, the deal did not go through, as negotiations between Altimo and Telenor failed.

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Posted to the site on 24th July 2006