Sonera to merge with Telia of Sweden
Tuesday, 26 March 2002Finland's state-controlled telecommunications operator Sonera said today that it had agreed to merge with Swedish semi-public rival Telia to create the largest telecoms operator on the Nordic and Baltic market.
Sonera said the merged group would have had sales of €9 billion in 2001 and 34,000 employees. Telia will hold 64% of the new entity, for which a name has yet to be chosen, while Sonera will hold 36%.
The combined entity, to be based in Stockholm, is expected to have 8.1 million mobile customers and 7.6 million fixed line customers across the Nordic and Baltic region.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sonera shareholders will receive 1.5 Telia shares in exchange for each Sonera share.
'Both the Swedish and Finnish government have agreed to fully support the merger and have signed a shareholder agreement,' Sonera said. It added that the two governments intended 'to reduce its shareholding in the combined company in the five years following the closing.'
Sonera is 52.8% owned by the Finnish state, while the Swedish state holds a 70% stake in Telia.
