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Telenor fully acquires leading Montenegrin mobile operator ProMonte GSM
Greece's Sarantitis Group sells its minority stake in Podgorica-based ProMonte to Telenor August 11th, 2004 -- Telenor ASA, Norway's largest telecommunications group, announced today that it completed the acquisition of an additional 55.9% stake in Montenegro's ProMonte GSM. Telenor's ownership of the Montenegrin mobile operator was previously 44.1%. After completion of the acquisition, Telenor will own 100% of the shares in ProMonte. The purchase price is EUR 64.8 million, valuing ProMonte to EUR 116 million on a 100% basis. The company had a negative net interesting bearing debt of EUR 2.7 million (cash EUR 4.6 million and interest bearing debt of EUR 1.7 million). Telenor first entered the Montenegrin mobile market in 1995 as part of the Greek-Norwegian consortium ETL (European Telecom Luxembourg), a joint venture between Telenor Mobile Communications AS, W-Com Investments, Westsouth Telecom and TopStar Shipping and Trading. ETL and PTT of Montenegro jointly established ProMonte and obtained a licence for mobile operation in 1996. ProMonte was the first to launch commercial mobile operations in Montenegro in July 1996. ProMonte is still the leading operator in Montenegro with 273,000 subscribers, constituting a 57% market share at the end of June 2004. Montenegro has a population of 618,000 and a mobile penetration of approximately 77% end of June 2004. "ProMonte is a well-run and cost efficient company with a sound EBITDA margin. Obtaining a majority stake in the company is in line with Telenor's strategy of taking control or exiting mobile operations where we already have an owning position," commented Mr. Arve Johansen, Deputy CEO, Telenor. Telenor is the largest provider of telecommunications services in Norway, and has substantial international mobile operations. Continued development of Telenor's mobile operations is essential to the Group's positioning as an international player in the telecommunications industry. Telenor is currently active in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Austria, Montenegro, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Thailand, and the USA. Sources: Telenor, INVgr. Related story:
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