12 November, 2009
UPDATE 2-TeliaSonera, Alfa to merge MegaFon, Turkcell stakes
* Telia and Alfa Group aim to end long-standing dispute
* To list new company in New York
* Agree to join forces in legal dispute with Cukurova
(Adds background, analyst comment)
By Simon Johnson and Helena Soderpalm
STOCKHOLM, Nov 12 (Reuters) - TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST) and Alfa Group are to combine their holdings in two mobile operators, bringing closer a possible end to a dispute over ownership of Turkcell (TCELL.IS), Turkey's biggest mobile operator.
TeliaSonera, the Nordic region's biggest telecom operator, said on Thursday it had agreed with Alfa, the Russian oil-to- telecoms group led by billionaire Mikhail Fridman, to combine holdings in mobile operators MegaFon in Russia and Turkcell.
The move follows a pact between Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL) and Alfa Group which in October agreed to merge their Russian and Ukrainian holdings after a long struggle over ownership. [ID:nL5637811]
TeliaSonera said the holdings would form a new company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with Turkcell and MegaFon continuing to be managed as separate operations.
"The shareholder structure and control of Turkcell and Megafon will improve, as well as the liquidity of these assets," TeliaSonera Chief Executive Lars Nyberg said in a statement.
"We have focused on creating a governance structure where all major parties will have good possibilities to influence, without single-handedly controlling, the management of the new telecommunications group."
The dispute over Turkcell dates back to 2005, when unlisted Turkish conglomerate Cukurova, backed away from a deal to sell shares in Turkcell to Telia, opting instead to form a venture with Alfa.
In August, an arbitration tribunal ordered Cukurova to sell its remaining stake in Turkcell Holding to Telia for $3.1 billion.
DISPUTE
Telia said it and Altimo -- the telecoms investment arm of Alfa Group -- would now collaborate on efforts to resolve all ongoing legal disputes between each of them and Cukurova.
"It is positive that they have moved to simplify the structure," one analysts, who declined to be identified, said.
"But they still need to find a solution to the Cukurova situation in order for everything to fall into place."
Telia, whose extensive emerging market operations have been driving its growth, has said it wants control of its daughter operations.
It recently bought out minority shareholders in Estonia's Eesti Telekom (ETLAT.TL). It raised its stake in Lithuanian TEO LT (TEO1L.VL), but failed to get full ownership.
TeliaSonera will hold a press conference on the deal with Alfa Group at 0900 GMT.
Alfa Group holds 25.1 percent of the shares in MegaFon, the third-largest mobile operator in Russia, through its telecoms arm Altimo, as well as 4.99 percent of Turkcell, Turkey's largest mobile group.
TeliaSonera owns 37.3 percent of Turkcell and 43.8 percent of Megafon. (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter; Editing by Erica Billingham)
Source: http://www.reuters.com
UPDATE 2-TeliaSonera, Alfa to merge MegaFon, Turkcell stakes Added: (12.11.2009)
Back to invest list
