Vimpelcom gives up control of GTel

Vimpelcom has agreed to sell its entire 49 percent stake in GTel Mobile and give up operational control of the Vietnamese wireless operator, the company announced.

The shareholding will be sold to GTEL Transmit and Infrastructure Service One Member Company Ltd., a related party of Vimpelcom’s Vietnamese partner, Global Telecommunications Corporation, which will pay cash consideration of USD45 million upon satisfaction of usual conditions precedent, TeleGeography CommsUpdate reported.

Upon completion of the sale, Vimpelcom said it will have no further obligations or liabilities to Global Telecommunications Corporation or GTEL Mobile, while the latter is required to discontinue the use of Vimpelcom’s Beeline trademark after a transition period of six months.

Vimpelcom CEO Jo Lunder explained, “We have previously outlined our value agenda, within which all of our operations are reviewed to assess their future value to the group. The decision to dispose of our interest in GTEL Mobile is a result of this process, which focuses on allocating capital to those markets where we see the best opportunities to generate shareholder value.”

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, GTel Mobile had a mobile customer base of 2.96 million at the end of 2011, corresponding to share of just 2.2 percent of Vietnam’s competitive mobile market.