VimpelCom inks deal to buy Armenia’ ArmenTel for 342 mln euro

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
November 3, 2006 Friday 6:50 PM EET

Russia’s second largest mobile operator VimpelCom has signed an
agreement to acquire a 90% stake in ArmenTel, the incumbent telecoms
operator in Armenia, from Greece’s Hellenic Telecommunications
Organization SA (OTE) for 341.9 million euros, VimpelCom said in a
press release Friday.

In addition, VimpelCom agreed to assume ArmenTel’s debt of
approximately 40 million euros, the Russian operator said.

The deal is subject to certain conditions, including approval by the
government of Armenia, VimpelCom said.

OTE earlier announced a tender for its 90% stake in ArmenTel.

Besides VimpelCom, Russian holding AFK Sistema, a consortium from
the United Arab Emirates (UAE) including telecom company Etisalat
and investment fund Istithmar, and a consortium of VTEL Holdings and
Knightsbridge Associates have participated in the tender.

ArmenTel is a fixed-line and mobile operator in Armenia with licenses
in the GSM 900 and CDMA standards. ArmenTel’s subscriber base
includes approximately 600,000 fixed-line subscribers and 400,000
GSM subscribers.

Armenia’s population is about 3.2 million people.

VimpelCom operates in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan and plans to launch services in Georgia soon.