VimpelCom Ltd.

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This article is about holding company founded in 2009 with NASDAQ ticker "VIP". For Russian company founded in 1992, see OJSC VimpelCom.
VimpelCom Ltd.
Type Public
Traded as NASDAQ: VIP since 2013
(in 1996-2010 as OJSC VimpelCom, 2010-2013 as NYSE: VIP)
Industry Telecommunications
Predecessor(s) OJSC VimpelCom & Kyivstar
Founded 2009
Founder(s) Dmitry Zimin,
Augie K. Fabela II
Headquarters Amsterdam, Netherlands
Area served Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Canada[1]
Key people Jo Lunder[2] (both Chief Executive Officer and also director of OJSC VimpelCom)
Products Mobile telephony, mobile phones retailing, international telephony, broadband Internet, IPTV, city-wide Wi-Fi, domain name registrar and others
Revenue USD 23.1 billion (2012)
Owner(s) Altimo (47.85%),
Telenor Mobile Holding AS (42.95%),
Weather Investments II,
Bertofan Investments
Employees 66,000
Subsidiaries OJSC VimpelCom, KB Impuls, Kyivstar, Wind Telecom
Website vimpelcom.com

VimpelCom Ltd. is a global provider of telecommunication services based in Amsterdam. It is the sixth largest mobile network operator in the world by subscribers (as of April 2012)[3] with 214 million customers (as per December 31, 2012) in 18 countries.[1] A lion's share of the company's revenue comes from Russia (39%) and Italy (31%).[4]

VimpelCom's brands include "Beeline" (in Russia and CIS), "Kyivstar" (in Ukraine), "Wind" (in Italy and Canada), "Djezzy" (in Algeria), "Mobilink" (in Pakistan), "Banglalink" (in Bangladesh), and others.

Owners

VimpelCom Ltd. Shareholder Structure:[5]

  • 47.9% of voting rights (56.2% Economic rights) owned by Altimo (Alfa Group)
  • 43.0% of voting rights (33.0% Economic rights) owned by Telenor
  • 9.2% (10.8%) – Minority Shareholders

Subsidiaries and shareholdings

History

Main articles: OJSC VimpelCom and Beeline (brand)

Russian OJSC VimpelCom was founded in 1992 in Moscow when VimpelCom's co-founders, Dmitry Zimin[7] and American Augie K. Fabela II came together to pioneer the Russian mobile industry.[8] Augie Fabela, who was then a young entrepreneur from the United States, and Zimin, who was a Russian scientist in his fifties, together launched the Beeline brand in 1993.

The company was one of the first mobile carriers in Russia. Its name derives from вымпел, the Russian word for pennon.

New York Stock Exchange

The old logo of OJSC VimpelCom during NYSE listing in 1996-2010

In 1996, OJSC VimpelCom, then the leader of Moscow cellular market (and automatically the largest mobile operator in Russia), became the first Russian company to have its shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange (with "VIP" as the ticker symbol).[9]

The company's main shareholders are Telenor, a Norwegian telecom conglomerate, and Alfa Group, a vehicle of Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman. They have been locked in a years-long struggle for control of this enterprise as well as other telecommunication assets in Eastern Europe.[10][11]

In 2008, OJSC VimpelCom obtained a 49.9% stake in Euroset, the largest mobile retailer in Russia and the CIS, which formerly belonged to its founder Yevgeny Chichvarkin.[9]

United holding company

See also: Kyivstar
Alexander Izosimov was the CEO of VimpelCom Ltd. until May 2011

VimpelCom Ltd. holding company was founded in 2009. In 2009, Telenor and Alfa agreed to merge their assets in VimpelCom and Kyivstar (Ukraine's number one wireless operator) with the aim of creating VimpelCom Ltd. (incorporated in Bermuda).[12] In 2010 the ticker “VIP” was transferred from OJSC VimpelCom to VimpelCom Ltd.. The website vimpelcom.com was also transferred from OJSC VimpelCom.

In October 2010, the united company acquired from Naguib Sawiris two assets:

  • Orascom Telecom Holding SAE, the largest mobile phone company in North Africa;
  • Wind Italy, the third largest mobile phone company in Italy.

The company has 205 million customers across 20 countries (as of 31 December 2011).[9]

As of April 2012, the government of Algeria is in talks to acquire from VimpelCom a 51% stake in Djezzy, the largest mobile phone company in the country.[13]

In January, 2013 VimpelCom Ltd. and the Wikimedia Foundation announced a partnership to deliver free Wikipedia access to VimpelCom customers through "Wikipedia Zero".[14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.vimpelcom.com/ir/facts.wbp
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Pavliva, Halia (2012-04-12). "VimpelCom Rises as Orascom Rejects Fine, Files for Arbitration". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  4. ↑ Леонид Коник (2012-04-26). "Altimo может потратить $1,5 млрд на увеличение доли в Vimpelcom Ltd. | comnews" (in (Russian)). Comnews.ru. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  5. ↑ http://www.vimpelcom.com/ir/ownership.wbp
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.vimpelcom.com/pr/fs.wbp
  7. ↑ "Founders". About.beeline.ru. 1933-04-28. Retrieved 2013-09-22. 
  8. ↑ "Founders". About.beeline.ru. Retrieved 2013-09-22. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Fact Sheet(s)". Vimpelcom.com. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  10. ↑ "Altimo of Russia steps up campaign against Telenor of Norway". New York Times. 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  11. ↑ White, Gregory L. (2009-05-20). "Norway Seeks Caution in Telenor Battle – WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  12. ↑ Nicholson, Chris V. (2009-10-05). "Telenor and Alfa Reach Deal on VimpelCom – NYTimes.com". Dealbook.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  13. ↑ "UPDATE 2-Algeria says no price set for Vimpelcom Djezzy unit". Reuters. Retrieved 2012-05-02. 
  14. ↑

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to VimpelCom Ltd..


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