Sonera Leaves Lebanon

HELSINKI -- Sonera (HEX: SRA, NADSAQ: SNRA) has sold its 14 % holding in the Lebanese GSM operator LibanCell to Lebanese Telecommunications Company S.A.L. The price of the deal was USD 22.5 million, or about EUR 24 million. Sonera has already received the payment in cash and will record a gain of about EUR 20 million from the deal in the second quarter. Sonera invested in LibanCell in 1994. At the end of 2001, LibanCell had 381,000 subscribers and a 49% share of the Lebanese GSM market. Last year the Lebanese Government cancelled the BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) contracts of both GSM operators and announced the launch of a tender process to grant two new GSM operating licenses. The process is still ongoing. "LibanCell was a good investment for us, but as the Lebanese government cancelled the BOT contract, the company’s prospects became more uncertain. Moreover, the minority holding in LibanCell was no longer in line with our current strategy, which is aimed at immediate profitable growth in selected markets in the East, such as Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Moldova”, says Kim Ignatius, Sonera’s Executive Vice President and CFO. Sonera Corp.