ATHENS -(Dow Jones)- Mobile telephone retailer Germanos Wednesday said it has agreed to sell its 20% stake in Uzebekistan mobile operator Unitel to Russia's Vimpel Communications. Germanos said VimpelCom is buying 100% of Unitel for a total $200 million.
VimpelCom will pay Germanos $40 million for its 20% stake.
Germanos said it bought the 20% stake in Unitel in September 2004 for $14.7 million.
The Greek company said it will examine opportunities for collaboration with VimpelCom.
VimpelCom's acquisition of Unitel is subject to Uzbekistan regulatory approval, but is expected to be completed by mid-February 2006, Germanos said.
Unitel has around 364,000 subscribers representing a market share in Uzbekistan of 31%, Germanos said.
At the end of 2005, Unitel had around $3.5 million in net debt, but this is expected to rise to around $13.4 million given the company's ongoing capital investment plan, Germanos said.
-By Paul Tugwell, Dow Jones Newswires; +30 210 331 2881; paul.tugwell@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 18th January 2006
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