VimpelCom Ltd., Russia’s second- largest mobile-phone operator, and Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris may say as early as today that they are closer to agreement on merging their phone assets, two people familiar with the matter said.
The two sides have for weeks discussed the transaction to create a company valued at more than $25 billion. High-ranking Russian leaders are set to convene in Algeria -- where Sawiris’s unit is entangled in a tax dispute -- from Oct. 6, which may be a catalyst for an agreement on a deal, said the people who declined to comment because the talks are private.
Sawiris would become a significant minority investor in the new company, which will include his Weather Investments SpA’s 51 percent stake in Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Holding SAE and Italian mobile operator Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA. The deal would create an entity with a combined mobile subscriber base of more than 200 million customers and give VimpelCom access to markets in Africa and the Middle East.
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