Connex shareholders become Dutch

Romanian mobile phone operator Mobifon-Connex was included in a complex financial transaction at an international level, which involves Romanian minority stakeholders in the company, together with the Canadian main shareholder Telesystem International Wireless (TIW), in an equity swap, which is a novelty for the Romanian financial market.

Romanian shareholders in Mobifon, the ANA group, ISAF and the Romanian Post Office (which sold its shares without specifying the identity of the new shareholder), will receive stock in a new distinct company, ClearWave, which will take over Mobifon.

“Mobifon minority shareholders have already transferred stock in Canada and we are to shortly turn them into ClearWave shares against a certain parity we do not know yet,” George Copos, head of ANA group and one of Mobifon shareholders, told Ziarul Financiar.

TIW, which holds 54.7 percent in Mobifon stock, announced it had received authorisation from the United States Securities Commission to combine operations in Romania and the Czech Republic into a company, ClearWave, registered in Holland.

TIW intends to launch a public equity bid for ClearWave. ” At the same time the equity sale offer is launched by TIW, part of Mobifon shareholders and all minority shareholders in TIW Czech Mobil that will become ClearWave shareholders, will in their turn launch sale offers as part of the total offer,” reads a statement issued by TIW.

The Canadian group expects the equity offer to provide about 150 million dollars. The respective sums will be used to the end of developing the Czech network and for the payment of some debts.