Vimpelcom and Global Telecom will sell their full debt and interest in Wind to Globalive Capital – the controlling shareholder in Wind Canada, which operates Wind Mobile – and the proceeds of the sale will go to Vimpelcom as part of its debt repayment.
The sale will mean Global Telecom is “released from all of its obligations under the related shareholders agreement and certain debt obligations of Wind Canada” according to a statement.
Market watchers initially expected Vimpelcom would sell Wind for approximately $272 million, and given the price Wind paid for airwaves in 2008, it seems there were few rival bidders.
The transaction is expected to close shortly.
Wind Mobile is the number four player in Canada – behind TELUS, BCE Bell Nexxia and Rogers – and in March, Vimpelcom wrote off the value of its Canadian investment.
In January, Wind withdrew from a major spectrum auction in Canada after Vimpelcom failed to back its participation.
