Telenor Group Sold 100 Million Shares In Veon For $213 Million

Telenor Group sold 100 million shares in Veon for $213 million as it continues an exit from the multinational operator which begun after the former lost a battle for control.

Telenor Group Sold 100 Million Shares In Veon

The Norway-headquartered operator first announced its intentions to cut ownership ties in Veon (formerly VimpelCom) in October 2015, when it held a 33 percent stake. It was well known Telenor had been feuding with Veon’s other shareholders about the future ownership of the company, which led to its decision to sell.

Since then it has been offloading its stake bit by bit. The latest sale, which represents 5.7 percent of its stake, means Telenor still owns 9 percent of Veon.

Telenor said in a statement it “priced its offering of 100 million common shares of Veon in the form of American Depositary Shares (ADS) at a public offering price of $2.16 per ADS. The offering results in net proceeds to Telenor of around $213 million, which will be included in Telenor’s cash flow statement for the first quarter of 2019. The offering is expected to close on or about 29 March 2019”.