* Squeeze-out part of merger between Vimpelcom and Kyivstar
* Analyst says squeeze-out price fair
* Shares fall in line with market
* Squeeze-out expected to complete by early August
MOSCOW, May 25 (Reuters) - Russia's Vimpelcom Ltd VIP.N said it would spend around $470 million on a squeeze-out of minority shareholders who did not tender their shares in an exchange offer as part of Vimpelcom's merger with Kyivstar.
Norway's Telenor TEL.OL and Russian Alfa Group last year agreed to merge their Russian and Ukrainian holdings into a new New-York listed telecom firm -- Vimpelcom Ltd -- ending one of Russia's longest corporate wars. [ID:nL5637811]
The company has secured 97.87 percent shareholder acceptance, with the remaining 2.13 percent of shares being subject to a mandatory squeeze-out. [ID:nLDE63K0IY] Vimpelcom Ltd will acquire all remaining Vimpelcom shares, including those represented by American Depositary Shares (ADSs), for 11,800 roubles per share, or $382.18 at the exchange rate as of May 25, it said in a Tuesday statement.
Holders of VimpelCom ADSs, each representing 1/20 of one Vimpelcom share, will be entitled to receive 590 roubles per ADS, or $19.11, less any costs and expenses incurred by depositary, The Bank of New York Mellon.
“The minorities who did not tender their shares should be very happy. And the total sum will anyway not have a significant impact on the company’s financial state,” VTB Capital analyst Viktor Klimovich said.
Shares in Vimpelcom Ltd fell 4.04 percent by 1534, in line with rival MTS MBT.N and other Russian stocks hit by global risk aversion. [ID:nLDE64O0K1]
As of April 30, Vimpelcom was ranked Russia’s third-largest mobile phone operator by subscriber numbers, after rival MegaFon for the first time displaced it from the No.2 place. [ID:nLDE64O013] (Reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva; writing by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Lidia Kelly and Sharon Lindores) ($1=31.60 Rouble)
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