VIMPELCOM SNAPS UP ARMENTEL
St. Petersburg Times, Russia
Nov 7 2006
MOSCOW – VimpelCom, Russia’s second-largest cellular company, said
Friday it agreed to buy 90 percent of an Armenian phone company for
341.9 million euros ($434.2 million), as it looks to expand beyond
the saturated Russian market.VimpelCom has signed an agreement with
Greece’s Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA, the Moscow-based
company said Friday in a PRNewswire statement. The company will also
assume about 40 million euros in net debt and obligations.
"With approximately 40 percent of the mobile market share, Armentel
occupies a strong position in the Armenian market and we will work to
enhance this position," VimpelCom Chief Executive Officer Alexander
Izosimov said in the statement.
VimpelCom, and its domestic competitors Mobile TeleSystems, Russia’s
biggest cellular operator, and MegaFon, the third-largest wireless
company, are looking to expand beyond Russia, a country with 143
million people and more than 146 million mobile phones. Buying Armentel
will make Armenia the sixth former Soviet country aside from Russia
where VimpelCom will have operations.
Armentel has about 600,000 fixed-line subscribers and 400,000 GSM
subscribers, the statement said.