Telenor takes further step towards Veon exit

VEON

07/04/2017 09:58

OSLO, April 7 (Reuters) - Norway's Telenor  TEL.OL  has sold 
a four-percent stake in Amsterdam-based mobile network operator 
Veon  VON.AS  for $259 million as part of an ongoing campaign to 
cut all ownership ties to the firm formerly known as Vimpelcom. 
    After years of conflict between Telenor and Veon's biggest 
owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, Telenor decided in 
September 2015 to sell all shares in the firm. 
    In the transaction lead by Citigroup and Morgan Stanley on 
Friday, Telenor sold 70 million Veon shares at a price of $3.75 
each. 
    "This is another step in the process to sell our Veon 
shares," a Telenor spokesman told Reuters. 
    Following the sale, Telenor owns 346.7 million Veon shares, 
equal to 19.7 percent, including shares tied to an exchangeable 
bond which commits Telenor to deliver Veon shares worth $1 
billion when it falls due in 2019. 
    Telenor's remaining 346.8 million Veon shares are currently 
worth around $1.3 billion, and if the value drops below $1 
billion when the bond expires it must pay the remaining amount 
in cash. 
    Telenor now faces a 60-day lockup period but would be free 
to sell more Veon shares after that, the spokesman said. 
 
 (Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord, editing by Terje Solsvik) 
 ((olepetter.skonnord@thomsonreuters.com; 0047 23 31 65 97;)) 
 
Keywords: VEON TELENOR/