Vodafone Ukraine, the second largest mobile operator in Ukraine, has announced that it has acquired a 90.6% stake in the authorized capital of Frinet LLC, which provides fixed-line Internet access services under the O3 brand, for UAH 746 million.
“The corresponding payment of UAH 746 million was made on the day of the Share Purchase Agreement. The transaction has been completed and registered in accordance with the current legislation,” the company said in its interim consolidated financial report published on its website on Tuesday.
The acquisition of Freenet LLC is part of the group’s strategy to develop converged services and tariffs.
The company also announced the payment of UAH 1.8 billion of outstanding debt to Telco Solutions and Investments LLC on August 9.
In addition, the company announced the payment of semi-annual interest to Eurobond holders in August in the amount of $12.4 million (UAH 453.3 million).
The text of the financial report emphasizes that as of June 30, 2023, Vodafone Ukraine was in compliance with all debt covenants. At the same time, the company remains concerned about the moratorium on cross-border currency payments, which may cause difficulties with the repayment of $400 million of Eurobonds in February 2025. In this regard, the company’s management is considering several options in case the moratorium remains in force, including refinancing with financial institutions, negotiations on changing the terms of the bonds with the Eurobond holders, and the introduction of additional measures to manage and control outflows to maximize debt repayment costs.
Earlier, VF Ukraine (Vodafone Ukraine) announced the completion of the acquisition of Frinet LLC, a national broadband Internet access operator providing services in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovs’k, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhya, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Kyiv, Rivne, Khmelnytsky and Chernihiv regions with 163 thousand subscribers.
The company has been operating in the market since 2008 and builds its networks using FTTx and GPON technology with 10 and 40 gigabit fiber optic trunks and modern managed equipment from leading manufacturers, which allows it to provide subscribers with Internet access channels with speeds up to 1 Gbps.
“Vodafone Ukraine provides 3G and 4G high-speed Internet and fixed-line services, mobile communications, and develops the Internet of Things (IoT), technologies and solutions for Smart City, big data analysis, financial and technological services, and cloud services. Since 2019, the company has been part of the NEQSOL Holding group of companies owned by businessman Nasib Hasanov.
NEQSOL Holding operates in the oil and gas, telecommunications, construction, and other high-tech sectors in the UK, USA, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, UAE, and Bangladesh. The group entered the telecommunications industry in the early 2000s.
