Norway’s Telenor closes acquisition of Bulgaria’s Globul, names new CEO
Norwegian telecom operator Telenor has finalised the deal to buy Bulgaria’s second-largest mobile carrier Globul, appointing Stein-Erik Vellan as the company’s new chief executive officer.
Telenor announced that it closed the deal on July in a regulatory filing with the Oslo Stock Exchange and said that Globul would be consolidated into Telenor Group from August 1.
Telenor agreed in April to buy Bulgaria’s second-largest mobile carrier Globul from Greek operator Cosmote for 717 million euro on a debt and cash free basis. The deal also included mobile accessories retailer Germanos Bulgaria, integrated in Globul.
The proposed acquisition received regulatory approval from the European Commission on July 4. The Commission said that there was no overlap between the geographic reach of the two companies and would not raise any competition concerns on the markets for wholesale international roaming services.
Globul is Telenor’s fourth venture into Central and Eastern Europe. The company also owns telecom operators in Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro.
Globul’s new CEO joins the company from Telenor Norway, where he was head of mobile. Vellan has vast experience in Central and Eastern Europe, serving as chief executive of Telenor Serbia during a transitional two-and-a-half-year period, Globul said in a statement.
(New Globul CEO Stein-Erik Vellan. Photo: Globul)
