Sonera Holding, a fully owned unit of Telia Company, has announced the launch of an accelerated bookbuilding offering to institutional investors of around 35 million shares in Russian mobile operator MegaFon, representing approximately 5.65 percent of MegaFon’s issued share capital. Telia Company's total stake in MegaFon is 25.2 percent of its issued share capital. If all offered shares are sold, Telia Company’s direct stake will be reduced to 19.5 percent.
Telia Company said the proposed sale is in line with its strategy to focus on operations in the Nordics and Baltics.
The offer price and final number of shares sold will be determined by Telia Company at the conclusion of the bookbuilding process and will be announced in a separate press release. The transaction is expected to settle on 5 October.BofA Merrill Lynch, Citi and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint bookrunners for the placing.
Telia Company has undertaken to the joint bookrunners not to sell any further shares owned in the 90 days following closing of the sale, subject to waiver by the joint bookrunners and customary exceptions.
Separately, Megafon announced it was issuing RUB 15 billion worth of bonds for general purposes and refinancing.
