Vimpelcom finalizes Vietnam joint venture, may expand further

Vimpelcom, Russia's No.2 cellphone operator, said on Tuesday it had finalised its mobile joint venture with Vietnamese state companies, which is set to become a launch pad for its Asian expansion.

Vimpelcom said it secured a 40 percent stake in the venture, called GTEL-Mobile, for an equity investment of $267 million.

Vietnam's state-owned Global Telecommunications Corporation (GTEL) and its unit GTEL TSC hold 51 percent and 9 percent of the GTEL-Mobile venture.

Vimpelcom is also considering buying a further 9 percent stake in the venture from its Vietnamese partners and has preemptive rights to do so.

"Vietnam will be a key market for us. We will be looking for further development possibilities based on the Vietnamese operations," Vimpelcom Chief Executive Alexander Izosimov told a conference call.

"In case our Vietnamese partners are interested, it is possible that we do it together," he added.

Vietnam licensed GTEL-Mobile to provide GSM-technology services in February this year, and the company now has to build telecoms infrastructure.

Thanhnien

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