Telenor Agrees to Sell Golden Tel Stake to VimpelCom

MOSCOW -(Dow Jones)- Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its 18.3% stake in Russian fixed-line operator Golden Telecom to VimpelCom for $105 a share.

The deal will increase Telenor's exposure to Golden Telecom since the state-controlled Norwegian company owns 33.6% of VimpelCom's common shares.

Telenor will receive $773.9 million for its stake, while VimpelCom is planning to borrow funds to finance the acquisition.

A Telenor spokeswoman said the company has the right to withdraw its offer, if VimpelCom pulls out of the bid.

Telenor is the first of Golden Telecom's four core shareholders to respond to VimpelCom's offer.

Golden Telecom's other core shareholders are telecoms holding company Altimo which owns 26.6%, Inure Enterprises with 7.9% and long-distance operator OAO Rostelecom (ROS) with 11%.

Moscow-based analysts disagree over whose shareholders will gain most from the deal, VimpelCom's or Golden Telecom's.

VimpelCom says the acquisition will enable it to offer advanced email and telecommunications services to businesses.

Some analysts argue that Telenor and Altimo are themselves driving the deal through.

The two shareholders have been trying to resolve a dispute around Kyivstar, a Ukrainian telecom operator that they also jointly own.

-By Will Bland and Adam Ewing, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 974 80 55; william.bland@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 5th February 2008