TeliaSonera acquired Kazakhtelecom’s 49% stake at a purchase price of $1.52billion, after regulatory approval was granted for the transaction.
With the completion of the first phase of the transaction GSM Kazakhstan is 51% owned by Fintur Holdings and 49% owned by TeliaSonera. The carrier now intends to sell 25% of the shares, minus one share in GSM Kazakhstan, in an IPO, subject to certain conditions. The IPO process has already been initiated and is expected to be completed during 2012.
Fintur Holdings is 58.55% owned by TeliaSonera, allowing the carrier to achieve an effective ownership of 61.9% in GSM Kazakhstan, once both steps of the transaction are complete. The remaining 41.45% of Fintur is owned by Turkcell.
In a separate announcement TeliaSonera revealed its financial results for the fourth quarter and the financial year. The company’s fourth quarter net sales increased by 1% to SEK27.12 billion compared to the previous year. The fourth quarter also saw an increase in subscribers for the group of 2.4 million in consolidated companies, and 3.3 million in associated companies. For the full year net sales fell by 2.5% to SEK104.35 billion, and net income fell by 13.7% to SEK 18.34 billion.
TeliaSonera’s president and CEO, Lars Nyberg said that the carrier would continue with the launch and rollout of 4G services and predicted continued growth in revenues and earnings in local currencies in 2012, despite macroeconomic and industrial challenges.
