(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Telenor of Norway offered to buy Serbian mobile phone operator Mobi 63 for 1.5 billion euros ($1.92 billion).
Telenor outbid Mobilkom Austria and Egypt's Orascom Telecom at an auction organized by the government, which holds 70% in Mobi 63, and a group of Austrian investors who control the remaining 30%.
The winning bidder gets a 10-year renewable operating license for the Serbian territory.
There is only one other mobile telephony provider in Serbia, state-owned Telekom Serbia. The government has said that, following a successful sale of Mobi 63, it would not open the market for a third operator in the next 2 years.
The starting price for Mobi 63, including its infrastructure and subscriber base, was 800 million euros ($1.01 billion). It covers about half of the country's market of 4 million users.
Of the amount reached at the auction, 320 million euros ($405.25 million) goes exclusively to the state for the license, while the remainder is to be split between the state and the Austrian Holdenhurst Holding proportionately to their respective stakes.
The deal is expected to be signed 'in several days,' Vladislav Cvetkovic, the government official in charge of the auction, said.
Meanwhile, Mobilkom Austria AG said it would still try to enter the Serbian market by requesting a new license from the authorities that would enable it to become the third operator in the Balkan country.
Telenor ASA operates in 12 countries in Europe and Asia, totaling 90 million users.
c 2006 The Associated Press
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