OSLO, Norway-Norway’s Telenor said it sold its 49-percent stake in Russian regional operator StavTeleSot to Russian mobile company VimpelCom for $20.9 million. VimpelCom now has 90 percent of StavTelesot.
Telenor said the transaction will give it a financial gain of about $9.3 million.
Telenor said the sale is in line with its strategy to dispose of minority stakes in companies where it does not plan to take control. StavTeleSot operates in the Stavropol region of Russian and owns 80 percent of two smaller companies in neighboring regions. It had a combined customer base of nearly 200,000 subscribers at the end of 2002.
Telenor holds 29 percent of VimpelCom. Russia’s two largest operators, VimpelCom and Mobile Telesystems, have been buying stakes in regional operators during recent months to build nationwide footprints.
