Telenor Controls Kyivstar GSM

OSLO -- Telenor has today completed the acquisition of an additional 16.5 per cent of the shares in Kyivstar GSM from the Sputnik Funds, a Western financed private equity firm operating in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States in the former Soviet Union). The acquisition was made pursuant to a pre-existing option arrangement. After giving effect to the acquisition, Telenor will be the majority owner with 61.9 per cent of the shares in Kyivstar GSM. The purchase price is USD 66.46 million.Kyivstar GSM started in 1997 as the fourth mobile operator in Ukraine, and is today the operator with the highest number of subscribers in the country. Ukraine has 48.9 million inhabitants and a mobile penetration of 6 per cent. Kyivstar has a market share of 50.1 per cent and almost 1.5 million subscribers. Telenor became an owner of the company in 1998. Arve Johansen, CEO Telenor Mobile gives the following comment to the transaction: “We consider Kyivstar GSM a well run company. Our acquisition is in line with the declared strategy of Telenor and our ambitions of further growth through majority position in our main international operations.”Telenor ASA