Vimpel-Communications (News - Alert) has signed a Joint Venture and Shareholders Agreement to establish a mobile telecommunications joint venture in Vietnam under the name of GTEL-Mobile Joint Stock Company.

 

Global Telecommunications Corporation (GTEL), a Vietnamese state-owned enterprise and GTEL TSC, a subsidiary of GTEL, will be the other participants in the Joint Venture Company.

 

VimpelCom subject to the conditions contained in the agreement and in accordance with Vietnamese investment laws would receive a 40 percent interest in the Joint Venture Company in consideration for an equity investment of $267 million.

 

GTEL and GTEL TSC will have an equity interest of 51 percent and nine percent, respectively, in the Joint Venture Company.

 

The parties' obligations under the Agreement remain subject to receipt of regulatory approvals, including approvals required for the legal formation of the Joint Venture Company and its receipt of the GSM license and frequencies.

 

"With a population of 86 million and a fast growing economy, the Vietnamese market holds great promise for VimpelCom and we believe the GTEL-Mobile growth dynamics make it an ideal place for us to begin building our international growth platform. We are very happy that this first step in the realization of our international growth strategy has successfully materialized. We are also pleased to be working with such a strong partner as GTEL and we value their professionalism, expertise and understanding of the Vietnamese market. This is a first-of-a-kind transaction in Vietnam, so we will work alongside our partners to ensure that we build a strong business to capture the revenue opportunities," said Alexander Izosimov, CEO of VimpelCom.

 

In April, Vimpel-Communications announced that the company's Kazakhstan subsidiary, TOO KaR-Tel, signed a management agreement to assist in operation and management of the network of LLC Sky Mobile (Sky Mobile), a GSM operator in Kyrgyzstan.

 

Pursuant to this agreement, KaR-Tel will assist in operation and management of Sky Mobile's network and will assist Sky Mobile, on an exclusive basis, with provision of products and services on the territory of Kyrgyzstan.