Telenor on Monday announced that it will sell its 33% stake in Russian telco Vimpelcom.
The Norwegian incumbent said it will "explore all options" to divest the shares, which it values at 20 billion kroner (€2.1 billion), in order to focus on its core operations.
"The Vimpelcom asset, where Telenor holds a minority position without the possibility to fully control the company, has been challenging," admitted Telenor chairman Svei n Aaser.
Vimpelcom has gradually contributed less to the value of Telenor Group, and the value of Telenor’s core operations have increased rapidly," Aaser added. "Today, the market value of the Vimpelcom shares represents approximately 8% of Telenor’s market capitalisation."
Vimpelcom has more than 200 million customers across 14 markets, Telenor noted on its website.
It is the smallest of Russia’s big three mobile operators domestically, recording a mobile market share of 24% at the end of June, according to Advanced Communications and Media (AC&M). At that date it had 57.2 million subscribers in Russia and 109.3 million across Russia and the CIS, the analyst firm reported.
Telenor has invested NOK15 billion in the company and received NOK20 billion in dividends.
"Our ambition is to drive profitable growth in the telecom business, where Telenor will continue to monetize…the exponential data usage taking place across our footprint," said Telenor CEO Sigve Brekke.
The telco said it has not laid out a timeframe for the disposal of its shares but pointed out that the process will likely take some time.
