TeliaSonera, Alfa to merge MegaFon, Turkcell stakes

By Simon Johnson and Helena Soderpalm

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST) and Alfa Group said on Thursday they would combine their Eurasian mobile assets, a move that could help them resolve a bitter dispute over ownership of top Turkish operator Turkcell (TCELL.IS).

TeliaSonera, the Nordic region's biggest telecom operator, said on Thursday it had agreed with Russian oil-to-telecoms group Alfa to combine their holdings in mobile operators MegaFon in Russia and in Turkcell.

Telia has been sparring with unlisted Turkish conglomerate Cukurova since 2005 when the Turkish group backed away from a deal to sell shares in Turkcell to Telia, opting instead to form a venture with Alfa.

In August, an arbitration tribunal ordered Cukurova to sell its remaining stake in Turkcell Holding to Telia for $3.1 billion.

Telia said it and Alfa Group's telecoms investment arm would now collaborate on efforts to resolve legal disputes between them and Cukurova.

Telia's Eurasia business head, Tero Kivisaari, said he believed a deal with Cukurova could be reached within a year and the new company set up in two years.

The deal follows a pact between Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL) and Alfa Group, led by billionaire Mikhail Fridman, which in October agreed to merge their Russian and Ukrainian holdings after a long struggle over ownership.

CONTROL

Telia has said it wants control of its core holdings, but the deal with Alfa looks to be as close as it is going to get in Russia and Turkey, where the new firm will have 90 million subscribers.

"It is a deal that both players can be satisfied with -- a marriage of convenience," said John Strand, chief executive of telecoms consultancy Strand Consult.

Shares in Telia were up 5.2 percent at 1200 GMT.

TeliaSonera said the holdings would form a new company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with Turkcell and MegaFon continuing to be managed as separate operations.

The listing should mean that MegaFon will start paying dividends, something Telia has been demanding for some time.

"If they (Telia) can begin to get a dividend from MegaFon, that means forecasts for Telia's dividend will rise," Sven Skold, analyst at Swedbank said.

TeliaSonera Chief Executive Lars Nyberg said in a news conference MegaFon had "plenty of cash."