TeliaSonera to gain control of Kazakhstan's Kcell, provider to hold IPO
STOCKHOLM. Sept 21 (Interfax) - TeliaSonera and Kazakhtelecom have signed a memorandum of mutual understanding, which foresees the GSM provider's (brand Kcell) IPO, the Swedish-Finnish holding said in a statement.
The statement said that the selling shareholder in Kazakhtelecom. At the same time, TeliaSonera, or its subsidiary Fintur Holdings, will purchase 24% plus one share in GSM Kazakhstan from Kazakhtelecom.
At present, Fintur holds 51% in GSM Kazakhstan while Kazakhtelecom holds 49%. TeliaSonera owns 58.5% in Fintur Holdings while the remained shares held by Turkcell.
"Kazakhtelecom's sale of an additional shares in Kcell will boost our stake in the company, for which we already bear managerial and operational responsibility. We are very happy with this agreement," Tero Kivisaari, the president of TeliaSonera Eurasia, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Three GSM cellular operators have operations in Kazakhstan: GSM Kazakhstan/Kcell, Kar-Tel (controlled by Vimpelcom and TOO Mobile Telecom Service (owner - Tele2). In addition, Kazakhtelecom's subsidiary, OJSC Altel, is an operator of CDMA standard services.