VimpelCom Sells 90% Stake In Wind Tower Unit To Abertis Telecom For EUR 693 Mln

(RTTNews) - VimpelCom Ltd. (VIP), a Dutch provider of telecommunications services, announced Monday that it has concluded, along its subsidiary WIND Telecomunicazioni S.p.A, a definitive agreement for the sale of 90 percent stake in WIND's unit Galata to Abertis Telecom Terrestre SAU for a total cash consideration of 693 million euros.

Galata is a tower business consisting of 7,377 towers together with the relevant functions, employees and related contracts.

The transaction is expected to close within the first quarter of 2015. Following this, Abertis Telecom will own 90 percent of the share capital of Galata while WIND will retain a 10 percent stake.

At the same time WIND will enter into a Tower Services Agreement for an initial term of 15 years with Galata for the provision of a broad range of services on the contributed sites and sites subsequently built by Galata hosting WIND equipment.

Proceeds from the transaction will be utilized by WIND to repay debt.