Telenor offers Altimo parity in Vimpelcom

Telenor has increased its stake in Vimpelcom to 42.95 percent and said it's open to a solution that gives Russian shareholder Altimo an equal stake in Vimpelcom. Telenor said it took over 71 million VimpelCom preferred shares from Weather Investments for USD 113.6 million, as agreed earlier this year under a put option. 

However Vimpelcom still faces restrictions on its shareholder actions due to a court order requested by Russian competition regulator FAS, which is questioning whether Telenor's increased stake meets Russian foreign investment laws. As a result, Vimpelcom said it would not register the share transfer from Weather to Telenor. 

Telenor said it's seeking a solution that "gives Altimo and Telenor parity in VimpelCom". It proposed that Altimo and Telenor offer to buy the preferred shares held by Bertofan Investments Limited "for a full and fair price, and in such proportions as will secure equal ownership positions for Altimo and Telenor after such transaction". 

Telenor said it does not expect any changes to Vimpelcom's corporate governance structure, and the current board structure would remain the same. It called on the Russian authorities to support the proposal in order to avoid escalation of the current conflict. 

Betrofan, a Cyprus company controlled by Victor Pinchuk's EastOne Investments, holds around 6 percent of Vimpelcom's voting rights, after a series of transactions with Altimo. According to Telenor, Altimo's and Bertofan's respective holdings amount to 46.53 percent of VimpelCom's voting shares.