We knew something’s in the air and voila – it’s almost a done deal, pending regulatory approvals in the first quarter of 2011.
VimpelCom has merged with Weather Investments (owner of Orascom Telecom), creating the world’s fifth-largest mobile operator group as a result! Under the terms of the deal, VimpelCom will acquire Naguib Sawiris’ Weather Investments, which owns 51.7% of Orascom Telecom and 100% of WIND Italy, with Weather taking a 20% economic interest (and an 18.5% voting interest) in the enlarged VimpelCom group. VimpelCom’s existing major shareholders, Telenor and Alfa Group’s Altimo, will see their economic shares diluted to 31.7% and 31.4%, respectively.
In addition to the share swapping, VimpelCom agreed to pay $1.8 billion to Weather, which it [VimpelCom] will finance from existing cash balances and new debt facilities.
However, not all Orascom/Weather will be acquired by VimpelCom — Orascom will keep its investments in Egypt (ECMS) and North Korea, while WIND Hellas is excluded from the transaction entirely. Interestingly enough, Orascom’s Algerian unit (Djezzy) is included in the transaction despite Orascom’s ongoing dispute with the Algerian government over ownership.
The new company will have pro forma net operating revenues of $21.5 billion and pro forma EBITDA of $9.5 billion for the year ended December 31st, 2009, with most of the money coming from VimpelCom’s operations in Russia (35%) and Orascom’s Wind Italy (34%). The group will have operations in 20 countries, serving around 174 million subscribers.
[Via: MobileBusinessBriefing]