NEW YORK-Millicom International Cellular S.A. has reached an agreement in principle to exchange its option to acquire 20 percent of Comviq GSM AB, the Swedish cellular telephone operator, in return for shares in NetCom Systems AB, Comviq’s publicly traded parent.
The value of the transaction represents the difference between the current exercise price of Millicom’s option in Comviq and the current value of 20 percent of Comviq, Millicom said. No cash consideration will be involved in the transaction.
Following this transaction and NetCom’s planned purchase of 40 percent of Swedish long-distance operator Tele 2, in exchange for NetCom shares, Millicom said it will own about 7.65 percent of the fully diluted shares of NetCom. Millicom will gain from the transaction in the third quarter.
After these transactions, NetCom will own 100 percent of Comviq, 100 percent of Tele 2, 25 percent of NetCom asa, a Norwegian cellular operator, and 38 percent of Kablevision, said Millicom.
NetCom reported revenues of about $200 million for the first six months of the year, up 60 percent from the same period in 1995. Millicom said it anticipates its shareholding in NetCom will appreciate significantly in value as NetCom continues to rapidly develop its operations.
Millicom develops and operates cellular telephone services worldwide with operations in Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa. In addition to developing these operations, Millicom said it continues to seek new cellular licenses throughout the world.
