The Dutch holding Veon has agreed on the final conditions for the exit of the Russian business: VimpelCom (Beeline brand) will pass to local top management. The agreement does not imply a buyback.
The deal could be announced next week. According to its results, 100% of Vimpelcom PJSC will be transferred to Copernicus-invest 3 OJSC, which belongs to the operator’s general director Alexander Torbakhov and four other top managers, Kommersant writes, citing sources.
VimpelCom is valued at 370 billion rubles and the company’s net debt is 240 billion rubles. The cost of the bonds amounted to 130 billion rubles. As a result, the company’s debt/EBITDA ratio will be 3.5.
Analysts consider this level to be critical and assume that in the near future the company will need to attract a new investor, through a direct sale of shares or an initial public offering (IPO).
VimpelCom told the publication that “the information about the closing of the deal with Veon is not true.”
The deal was scheduled to close on June 1, but the government commission had doubts about the agreements with the holding company’s Russian bondholders.
Veon unites telecom operators from Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Georgia. Almost half of the holding’s shares (47.9%) belong to billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s LetterOne group.
Author:
Karina Pardaeva
Source: RB
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