The merger between Russian-based VimpelCom Ltd. and WIND Telecom SpA (which owns Orascom Telecom, itself a WIND Mobile partner) cleared a significant milestone today as shareholders approved the move.
Alexander Izosimov, CEO and President of VimpelCom, commented: “The approval of this transformative combination with Wind Telecom by our shareholders will lead to the creation of a new global telecom player with over 173 million mobile subscribers covering a population of 838 million people.”
The announcement was welcomed in Canada by WIND Mobile:
This is great news for us. Our partner, Orascom, will be even larger and stronger as a financial partner. This gives us more leverage and increased scale with telecom network equipment manufacturers and more importantly, for devices including handsets and tablets. This will also give us more access to international cooperation for roaming and long distance services. All of that means the ability to deliver even more value to all of our customers.
The forthcoming merger could also have another positive effect for WIND Mobile: That of giving it more time to resolve its legal issues around its ownership status.