TeliaSonera on Eurasian spending spree

Scandinavian carrier TeliaSonera said Friday that it has snapped up controlling stakes in two mobile operators in emerging markets, Spice Nepal in Nepal and Applifone in Cambodia.

The Swedish-Finnish carrier acquired 51 per cent of the shares in TeliaSonera Asia Holding from Visor Group that will remain owner of the other 49 per cent.

The holding firm owns 80 per cent of the shares in Spice Nepal, the second largest mobile operator in Nepal, and 100 per cent Applifone, a start up mobile operator in Cambodia.

TeliaSonera paid out a total of SEK3.2bn (Eur330m) in cash in the transaction.

Spice Nepal launched operations in September 2005 and is the second largest mobile operator in Nepal, with around 1.6 million subscriptions and an estimated market share of approximately 41 per cent.

Applifone launched in October 2007 and is the fourth largest mobile operator in Cambodia, with 97,500 subscriptions and an estimated market share of approximately 3 per cent.

“One of our top priorities is to grow our business in Eurasia, where we have successfully grown and created value over the past ten years. We now take a further important step in executing our strategy to expand into new high-growth emerging markets, following our successful investments in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan,” said Lars Nyberg, president and CEO of TeliaSonera.