Telia’s mooted sale of its majority stake in Kcell to fixed-line provider Kazakhtelecom has been abandoned after the two parties failed to agree on a price.
Russia’s CNews reported that talks had collapsed despite state-owned Kazakhtelecom winning out against two other interested parties when talks first came to light in January. The entrepreneur Aidan Karibzhanov and operator Transtelecom were also interested in Telia’s stake, which is valued at around $670 million.
Kazakhtelecom’s proposal of acquisition was approved in principle by Kazakhstan’s monopoly commission after being submitted in the first quarter, although it was decried by rival bidders. The exact amount that Kazakhtelecom offered for the stake has not been revealed.
Telia is in the process of divesting its holdings in non-core markets, having announced that it would pull out of Eurasia in 2015. It has sold its interest in Azerbaijani operator Azertel – which it held via its joint venture with Turkcell, Fintur Holdings – as well as its stakes in Russia’s Megafon and Turkey’ Turkcell.
