If sources are to be believed, VimpelCom Ltd.’s shareholders and Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris have an agreement to cement a merger even if Algeria nationalizes the local unit of Sawiris’s Orascom Telecom Holding without paying Orascom a cent.
According to the sources, the Russian, Norwegian, Egyptian and the other major shareholders went into the telecom deal with their eyes wide open about the risks of nationalization in Algeria, and they agreed to a plan B, committing them to work toward a merger even without Algerian unit Djezzy.
As per reports citing Orascom Telecom Chief Executive Khaled Bishara, they are still working on the deal and Algeria probably won’t be the deciding factor for selling Sawiris’ approximately 50% stake in Orascom to VimpelCom.
According to VimpelCom spokeswoman Elena Prokhorova, VimpelCom is continuing to work on the deal, including getting the required regulatory permissions, and also on the situation in Algeria. Still, Sawiris recently indicated the deal has a 50% chance at best of being finalized. VimpelCom major shareholder Telenor ASA has also expressed concerns about the problems in Algeria.