Global Capital Markets

Story: Telenor’s request that Alfa Group should be deprived of voting rights at VimpelCom shareholders meeting was rejected by a US court, on Thursday. This is according to reports in Vedomosti and The Moscow Times, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation. Telenor of Norway and Russia’s Alfa are the key shareholders in the Russian listed cellular operator, VimpelCom.
VimpelCom shareholders meeting, scheduled for 14 September, is to decide over a potential acquisition of Ukraine’s mobile player, Ukrainian RadioSystems (URS). According to Kommersant, which did not specify sources for this information, Telenor is against the transaction and the main decision over the potential bid will depend on VimpelCom’s minority shareholders (34% stake).
VimpelCom has signed an agreement to buy RadioSystems for about USD 200m and has until 1 October to finalize the transaction, Vedomosti reported, without referring to any specific sources.
Telenor has requested that Alfa make corrections on documents sent to the US securities commission (SEC) and other VimpelCom shareholders, regarding the RadioSystems purchase, Vedomosti reported, quoting Telenor’s spokesperson. Cited by Vedomosti and Kommersant, Alfa-Telecom (Alfa Group subsidiary) vice- president, Kirill Babaev, denied any Alfa wrongdoing.
Quoted by Vedomosti, VimpelCom spokesperson Yuliya Ostroukhova, confirmed that VimpelCom’s position in the dispute was neutral. She said that although VimpelCom regards expansion in Ukraine as economically expedient, the final decision will belong to shareholders.

Source: Vedomosti, Moscow Times, Kommersant
Value: $200m (URS deal value)