Russia’s MTS granted leave to file legal action (Kyrgyzstan)
Russia’s MTS has been granted leave to file a legal action in the Isle of Man over its complex dispute over the ownership of a mobile network in Kyrgyzstan. The Judicial Committee of the UK Privy Council, the highest Court of Appeal for the Isle of Man ruled in favor of three companies incorporated in the Isle of Man (the KFG Companies), which are owned by MTS.
The ruling was to determine where the eventual legal dispute should be argued – in the Isle of Man or in Kyrgyzstan. Although MTS accepted that the natural forum for the dispute should be in Kyrgyzstan, it was also accepted that in reality, they were unlikely to face a fair trial in the country.
The Privy Council’s ruling has confirmed that the jurisdiction of the Isle of Man courts are to try the counterclaims asserted by the KFG Companies against various defendants, including Sky Mobile, OOO Altimo and Altimo Holdings, for the claimed wrongful misappropriation and seizure of Kyrgyz telecom operator Bitel and its assets.
The background to the case is that MTS’s subsidiary company, MTS Finance acquired a 51% stake in Tarino Limited from Nomihold Securities at the end of 2005. At the time, Tarino was believed to be the indirect owner, through its 100% owned subsidiaries, of Bitel, a Kyrgyzstan based mobile network operator.
The Privy Council’s ruling clears the way for the KFG Companies now to pursue all their claims in the Isle of Man against the defendants.
Sky Mobile appoints new CCO (Kyrgyzstan)
Mobile operator Sky Mobile, working under the Beeline Kyrgyzstan brand, has appointed Oleg Germanov the new CCO of the company.
Germanov earlier worked as CCO of the Krasnodar regional branch of mobile operator Tele2 Russia.
VimpelCom acquires remaining Stake in Sky Mobile (Russia, Kyrgyz)
Russia’s VimpelCom has reportedly brought out the 50.1% of Kyrgyz mobile network operator, Sky Mobile that it did not already own. The transaction was completed last October, but only just reported by local news media, and is said to have cost US$150 million.
Earlier Vimpelcom’s Kazakhstan subsidiary, KaR-Tel had signed an agreement to manage the Sky Mobile network in neighboring Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, Crowell Investments took out a loan from VimpelCom for US$350 million putting up its 25% stake in KaR-Tel as security – and granted VimpelCom a put option to buy its 50.1% stake in Sky Mobile.
The payment of US$150 million coincidentally matches the amount that VimpelCom’s rival, MTS wrote off after a protracted legal battle over the ownership of another Kyrgyz mobile network, Bitel. The parent company of Bitel transferred its assets to Sky Mobile in 2006.
MTS Loses appeal over Kyrgyzstan dispute (Russia)
Russia’s Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has lost the appeal over a disputed commercial agreement it had entered into with Nomihold Securities over a stake in a Kyrgyzstan mobile network.
The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) has ordered the company to buy the 49% of the holding company, Tarino Limited that it does not already own. The stake is currently held by Nomihold Securities who claimed a put-option forcing MTS to buy its stake for for $170 million, plus interest, $5.88 million in dividends.
MTS’s subsidiary company, MTS Finance acquired a 51% stake in Tarino Limited from Nomihold Securities at the end of 2005. At that point in time, Tarino was believed to be the indirect owner, through its 100% owned subsidiaries, of Bitel, a Kyrgyzstan based mobile network operator. However, three days after the deal was announced, a little-known Russian company, Rezervspetsmet, which reportedly has links with Russia’s Altimo, challenged the purchase in court and was awarded full operating control over Bitel.
At some point in September-October 2006, under Rezervspetsmet’s control, Bitel transferred all its assets to Kyrgyzstan’s Sky Mobile, which was acquired by Altimo in June.
In March 2007, MTS wrote off the costs relating to the acquisition of Bitel in the amount of $150 million and a liability of $170 million was recorded with an associated charge to non-operating expenses to account for potential liability with respect to the option for the remaining 49% of Tarino, as noted in MTS annual financial statements for year ended 31 December, 2006.
LCIA orders MTS to buy 49% of Tarino Limited
MTS Russia has announced that the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) has ordered the company to buy the 49% of the holding company, Tarino Limited. The stake is currently held by Nomihold Securities who claimed a put-option forcing MTS to buy its stake.
MTS’s subsidiary company, MTS Finance acquired a 51% stake in Tarino Limited from Nomihold Securities at the end of 2005. At the time, Tarino was believed to be the indirect owner, through its 100% owned subsidiaries of Bitel, a Kyrgyzstan based mobile network operator. However, three days after the deal was announced, a little-known Russian company, Rezervspetsmet, which reportedly has links with Russia’s Altimo, challenged the purchase in court and was awarded full operating control over Bitel.
At some point in September-October 2006, under Rezervspetsmet’s control, Bitel transferred all its assets to Kyrgyzstan’s Sky Mobile, which was acquired by Altimo in June.
In March 2007, MTS wrote off the costs relating to the acquisition of Bitel in the amount of $150 million and a liability of $170 million was recorded with an associated charge to non-operating expenses to account for potential liability with respect to the option for the remaining 49% of Tarino, as noted in MTS annual financial statements for year ended 31 December, 2006.
The London Court also ruled that MTS should pay interest on the transaction dating back to 2007, US$5.88 million in dividends and to compensate it for related costs. MTS is currently reviewing the award and its legal options
Tim Satchell appointed as the commercial director by InfoMedia Services
Ex head of mobile at BSkyB, Tim Satchell has been appointed as the Commercial Director of Mobile media firm InfoMedia Services. Satchell has also been included in the board of directors.
Initially while working with BSkyB, Satchell had supervised the launch of 24-7 Football. He was also responsible for the overall management of Sky Mobile TV.
According to Michael Tomlins who will now be moving to the post of Managing Director of the company, the firm is very excited to have someone of Tim’s pedigree and standing within the industry joining their team.
He was also of the opinion that Satchell brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of the mobile media industry, having worked on some of the most high profile projects in the last few years.
3 UK Expands Mobile TV Offer With BSkyB Programming
UK mobile operator 3 has signed a deal with BSkyB to make the company’s Sky Mobile TV offer available to 3 subscribers. Users will be able to receive up to 27 Sky Mobile TV channels including live news, sport, music, entertainment and documentaries. The offer consists of three themed packs of Sky Mobile TV channels (News & Sport, Entertainment and Music). Each pack is charged at all-you-can-watch price of £5.00 per month. The service will be free for all subscribers who sign up for the package in November. Sky Mobile TV broadcasts a mix of streamed content and dedicated made-for-mobile channels.
James:
The interesting part about BSkyB’s mobile strategy is that it’s not trying to hoard its content for its own mobile TV service using MediaFLO. The company also has deals with Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange and O2. This gets BSkyB content to a wide audience, but does limit the amount of exclusive??? content it can offer on its own service…I’m waiting to see how it goes.
Source- moconews Wireless Mobile Telecom
