VimpelCom - Sale Of Controversial Stake Unlikely To Satisfy Telenor

VimpelCom shareholder, Oleg Kiselev, has sold his 6% stake in the operator to Ukrainian tycoon Viktor Punchuk. Pubchuk owns EastOne, which controls Ukraine's biggest steel pipe producer Interpipe. The stake, which Kiselev acquired in June 2011 for US$100mn, proved controversial with Telenor claiming the sale was illegal and enabled Vimpelcom's acquisition of Wind Telecom and a 51% stake in Orascom Telecom against the legitimate objections of Telenor. CFW does not expect the sale of the stake to satiate Telenor, and argues that the operator's risk profile could intensify the boardroom tensions in 2012 despite its strong operational KPIs.

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