Telenor, Altimo bury hatchet, merge assets

Nordic operator Telenor and Russian conglomerate Altimo (Alfa Group) ended years of legal disputes on Monday with a plan to combine their common assets in Russia and Ukraine.

The two companies have reached an agreement to combine their holdings in second-placed Russian operator VimpelCom and Ukrainian player Kyivstar into a new jointly-owned mobile telecoms operator, VimpelCom Ltd.

The united company will provide mobile services in Russia, Ukraine and other CIS countries, as well as Georgia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

As a result, the operators have agreed to suspend all their ongoing legal proceedings and take action to withdraw or settle them prior to the transaction being completed. The governance structure agreed for VimpelCom Ltd. is designed to significantly reduce the potential for new disputes between the shareholders, Telenor said.