MOSCOW—The Norwegian Telenor is going to sell two of its Russian subsidiaries, and the second-biggest Russian carrier Vimpelcom, in which Telenor holds a major stake, is the most likely buyer.
Telenor is planning to sell its 49-percent stakes in Extel from the Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad and in Stavtelesot from the southern Stavropol region of Russia. Both carriers operate GSM 900/1800 MHz networks and have 64,000 and 84,000 subscribers respectively.
“We see our assets either integrated with Vimpelcom or outside Telenor altogether,” said Joran Olson, head of Telenor’s Russian office, adding that the deal is likely to be completed by the end of the year. Market experts estimate Extel at US$20 million to US$25 million and Stavtelesot at US$25 million and US$30 million.
The Vedomosti newspaper believes Vimpelcom may be interested in Extel, as its major competitor Mobile Telesystems (MTS) will soon launch a network in the Russian enclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.
However, Stavtelesot may be of interest for MTS, as it has no license for the Stavropol region, while Vimpelcom owns a license for the whole North Caucasus, including Stavropol.
“In general we are interested in the Stavropol region,” MTS spokesman Kirill Maslenitsyn said, adding that no talks on a Stavtelesot purchase have been conducted so far.
