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Telia sells stake in Tajik operator Tcell amid Central Asia exit

07 September 2016 14:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Nordic telecom operator Telia Company said on Wednesday it had sold its stake in Tajik operator Tcell, part of its move towards a full exit from Central Asian markets, Reuters reported.

Says has agreed to sell its 60 pct holding in Central Asian Telecommunications Development B.V., which controls CJSC "Indigo Tajikistan" (Tcell), to Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development which currently owns the remaining 40 pct. Transaction price for Tcell is based on an enterprise value of USD 66 million, of which Telia's 60 percent share corresponds to USD 39 million. Telia said in September 2015 it would gradually abandon its Central Asian markets, hit by years of investigations into alleged corruption linked to local partners and problems accessing cash in distant countries. After the sale of Nepal and Tajikistan, Telia's Eurasian unit consists of Fintur Holdings (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Moldova), co-owned with Turkcell, as well as Uzbekistan. Telia has earlier said it sees an exit in Eurasia this year. based on current FX-rates, agreed price implies an EV/EBITDA multiple of approximately 4.0x based on Tcell's 2015 results. Says transaction will have limited result and net debt impact Says the transaction is expected to close by the end of the year.