COMSTAR UTS ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF ARMENIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS GROUP
SKRIN Market & Corporate News
October 30, 2006 Monday
Comstar UTS announced the acquisition of 75% plus one share in the
Armenian transit operator CallNet, which also owns 100% of Cornet,
an ISP with an extended corporate customer base, Aton Capital said.
According to a company press release, Cornet provides Internet services
to 76% of the Armenian banking sector and is the sole provider of
WiMax services in the country. The purchase price was not disclosed,
but with $4.3mn in consolidated 2005 revenue for Callnet and Cornet,
Aton estimates it could be around $15mn. Comstar-UTS also has an
option to acquire the remaining 25% stake in the group.
Aton sees the acquisition of telecommunications assets in the CIS as
positive news for Comstar-UTS: since the IPO in February, investors
have waited for expansion outside Russia.