Telia Company is selling its 19% holding in MegaFon to Gazprombank for RUB 514 per share, raising gross proceeds of RUB 60.4 billion (equivalent to approximately SEK 8.6 billion or US$1.03 billion).
MegaFon (Russian: МегаФон), which is based in Moscow, is the second largest mobile phone operator[3] and the third largest telecom operator in Russia.
Gazprombank has agreed to a lock-up of six months from the date of the sale, subject to certain exceptions.
Gazprombank is the third largest bank in Russia and is funding the acquisition with cash in immediately available funds.
Telia noted that although Gazprombank is subject to EU capital market sanctions and to Russia US Directive 1 Sanctions, which prohibit US and EU companies from financing, directly or indirectly, entities that are subject to the sanctions, this transaction does not involve any financing of Gazprombank or any trade in stock or other securities issued by Gazprombank and the sanctions are therefore not applicable.
Telia narrows focus on Nordics and Baltics
The summer break is now well past its peak for many regions. For telecom operators, traffic must be carried whether the whole country is on holiday or not, and this is surely the case for Telia Company. The recent news from Stockholm was not good. A disappointing financial report for Q2 2017 issued on July 20th forced the company to announce a 3% cut in employment, or roughly 850 people, just before the summer holidays and precisely the time many…
