Reuters: Mergers News: Russia's Altimo wants to up Vimpelcom stake-paper

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Russia's Altimo wants to up Vimpelcom stake-paper Apr 25th 2012, 10:44 MOSCOW, April 25 | Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:44am EDT MOSCOW, April 25 (Reuters) - Altimo, the telecoms arm of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa-Group, wants to raise its stake in mobile phone operator Vimpelcom, Altimo's chief executive was quoted on Wednesday as saying. Altimo on Tuesday sold its stake in Russia's No.2 wireless carrier MegaFon in a deal that saw Russia's richest man Alisher Usmanov get majority control and Nordic telecoms group TeliaSonera also cut its stake. Altimo is likely to use $1.5 billion of the $5.2 billion in proceeds from the MegaFon stake sale to raise its holding in Vimpelcom, Alexei Reznikovich, chief executive officer of Altimo, said in an interview with the Financial Times. He did not specify how Altimo planned to raise the stake. His comments come as Russia's competition watchdog tries to overturn the recent increase by Norway's Telenor of its stake in Vimpelcom. The surprise deal allowed Telenor to take back partial control of Vimpelcom from Altimo and raised concerns that Vimpelcom could again become a battleground in a dispute that has rumbled on for more than eight years. Reznikovich told the FT that Altimo had no prior knowledge of the case but that from a purely legal perspective the case had not been a surprise. Altimo could raise its stake in Vimpelcom by buying 123.6 million preferred shares, or a near 6 percent voting stake, from Bertofan Investments, a vehicle of Ukrainian tycoon Viktor Pinchuk. This stake, originally owned by Altimo, has changed hands twice since last summer. These preferred shares, which have voting rights but receive no dividends, can be converted into common stock this autumn, thus increasing the economic interest of their owner. The conversion would cost some $1.23 billion, based on the current market price. Altimo itself owns 4.9 million preferred shares and can also convert them this autumn. Altimo currently has 25 percent of votes and a 31.35 percent economic interest. Telenor has 39.51 percent and 35.66 percent and Weather has 18.28 percent and 18.78 percent, respectively. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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