CAIRO: Weather Investments II rather than its majority owned Wind Telecom will ask for seats on Russian operator Vimpelcom’s board if an existing shareholders agreement is cancelled, a Wind spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Egypt’s Al-Mal newspaper last week quoted Wind’s executive chairman, Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris, as saying Wind would request the seats after any cancellation of the agreement, which gives key Vimpelcom stakeholders Altimo and Telenor three board seats each.
Vimpelcom, Russia’s No. 3 mobile phone operator, last month closed a more than $6 billion deal for Wind Telecom, including a majority stake in Orascom Telecom and Italy’s Wind.
Vimpelcom’s key Russian shareholder Altimo said in April it expected to scrap a 2009 shareholder agreement with Norway’s Telenor to allow Sawiris roughly equal rights in Vimpelcom.
