BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/11/2007

Telekom Austria completes acquisition of MDC for EUR 730 mln

Telekom Austria Group has closed the acquisition of a 70 percent stake in Cypriot, the sole owner of the Belarusian mobile operator MDC, for an enterprise value of approximately EUR 730 million after having received the approval of relevant antitrust authorities. MDC will be fully consolidated into the mobile communication segment of the Telekom Austria Group from 1 October of this year and will positively impact revenues and EBITDA of Telekom Austria Group for the full year 2007. In October, Telekom Austria Group reached an agreement to acquire the stake from Mr. Ead Samawi and his partners, entered into a call and put option agreement related to the remaining 30 percent stake held by Mr. Samawi and his partners exercisable in the fourth quarter 2010 for approximately EUR 320 million and furthermore agreed on a performance based deferred consideration. The amount of the deferred consideration, which is payable in the fourth quarter 2010, will be directly linked to the future financial performance of MDC. Following the acquisition, the management team of MDC will be strengthened by Helmut Duhs as CEO and CFO of SB Telecom in charge of MDC. Helmut Duhs will head a team of Belarusian experts with deep knowledge of the Belarusian market and Austrian professionals with extensive experience in Telekom Austria Group and its international subsidiaries.

Source:

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?id=193106&nr=&type=&yr=