VimpelCom owner to hold SPO at Euronext, rebrand into VEON

MOSCOW, Feb 27 (PRIME) -- VimpelCom Ltd., the sole owner of Russian mobile operator VimpelCom, will carry out a secondary listing in Europe soon after rebranding into VEON, the Amsterdam-based company said on Monday in a statement.

“Following the doubling of its free float to 20.1% in July–September 2016, VEON is planning a second listing in April–June on Euronext Amsterdam, where the company has its headquarters with more than 500 staff including the global leadership team,” VimpelCom Ltd. said.

“The company will list under its new name VEON, which is subject to shareholder approval, with a new ticker code VEON. Through this second listing, the company aims to broaden its investor base, with potential inclusion in European indices and extended stock coverage.”

The expected listing will be of VimpelCom Ltd.’s common shares, that can be exchanged for the company’s shares listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. The ticker for the company’s listing on NASDAQ will also change to VEON.

Rebranding is to be approved by an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders on March 30, the company said.

“Today is the start of a new and exciting era as VimpelCom Ltd. becomes VEON. Our rebranding reflects an ambition to reinvent the company from a telecom company into a global tech leader,” CEO Jean-Yves Charlier said.

“The launch of VEON, our new Internet platform, will bring genuinely free messaging services, a fresh digital engagement model and new services from music to banking to consumers. Today we are delighted to announce global partnerships with STUDIO+, Deezer and MasterCard, each of which will be integrating new services into the platform for VEON users.”

VimpelCom Ltd. said in the statement that it has been restructured and is returning to growth after years of decline.

The group’s global culture and compliance structure have been overhauled and it has set a firm and ambitious digital vision and strategy that is catapulting the business firmly into the technology space, as the statement read.

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