SOURCE SAYS UAE CONSORTIUM TO BUY ARMENIA’S ARMENTEL
Cellular-News, UK
Oct 10 2006
MOSCOW, Oct 10 (Prime-Tass) — A consortium from the United Arab
Emirates (UAE), including Etisalat and investment fund Istithmar,
is expected to buy a 90% stake in ArmenTel, the incumbent telecoms
operator in Armenia, for US$600 million, a source close to the Armenian
government said, Kommersant business daily reported Tuesday.
The consortium won the stake tender announced by the current stake
holder, Greece’s Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE)
earlier this year, the source said.
Two Russian companies, major holding AFK Sistema and second largest
mobile operator VimpelCom, also applied to participate in the tender.
Spokespeople with Sistema and VimpelCom told Prime-Tass that the
companies had not yet received the official results of the tender.
The fourth bidder for ArmenTel was a consortium of VTEL Holdings and
Knightsbridge Associates, OTE said earlier.
ArmenTel has a monopoly on fixed-line and long-distance services in
Armenia. The company also had a monopoly on mobile services until
mid-2005. ArmenTel’s fixed-line subscriber base stands at about
600,000 users and its mobile subscriber base at about 330,000 users.
Armenia’s population amounts to about 3.2 million people, of which
about 20% use mobile services.