Rostelecom board approves deal to consolidate 100% in Tele2

MOSCOW, Nov 13 (PRIME) -- The board of directors of Russian state-controlled telecom operator Rostelecom has approved a deal to boost its stake in mobile operator Tele2 Russia to 100% from 45% currently, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The first stage of the deal encompasses acquisition of 10% in Tele2 Russia by swapping Rostelecom’s 10% common shares held by subsidiary Mobitel. The deal is worth 24 billion rubles.

At the second stage of the deal, Rostelecom will buy 27.5% in Tele2 Russia with proceeds from an additional share offering. The company will sell 66 billion rubles of extra shares to VTB Bank at a price of 93.21 rubles per share.

The third stage implies buying the remaining 17.5% stake for 42 billion rubles.

Rostelecom said it plans to keep the Tele2 brand after consolidating 100% shares in the company. The holding also plans to keep the operator’s management team and approve a new motivation plan for it.

Rostelecom CEO Mikhail Oseyevsky said that Tele2 was appraised at 240.5 billion rubles as part of the transaction.

(63.8530 rubles – U.S. $1)

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