Coudert Brothers Wins Nordic Double-Header in Russia.Business Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2000 Coudert Brothers has acted for Telenor East Invest AS, subsidiary of Norwegian state-owned telecommunications company Telenor AS, in connection with its acquisition on July 28, 2000 of US$51.9 million of American Depositary Shares (ADSs) in OAO OAO Orbiting Astronomical Observatory OAO Over and Out OAO One And Only OAO Ontario Association of Orthodontists OAO Owned and Operated OAO Ontario Association of Optometrists OAO Opticians Association of Ohio OAO Orthogonalized Atomic Orbital Vimpel-Communications in a Regulation S private placement launched simultaneously with VimpelCom's US$95 million US registered public offering of ADSs and US$75 million US registered public offering of 5.5% senior convertible notes. VimpelCom, a leading provider of wireless telecommunications services in Russia, was the first Russian company to list its shares on The New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. . Telenor's purchase of ADSs was the culmination of a series of financing transactions for VimpelCom which began in January of this year. In June, Coudert Brothers represented Telenor in connection with a US$50 million secured bridge loan to VimpelCom and the grant of an option to Telenor by VimpelCom which was intended to permit Telenor to maintain its holding of 25.72% of VimpelCom's voting shares Voting Shares Shares that give the stockholder the right to vote on matters of corporate policy making as well as who will compose the members of the board of directors. Notes: Different classes of shares, such as preferred stock, sometimes don't allow for voting rights. . The bridge loan and the option were negotiated in parallel with a US$30 million loan to VimpelCom by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Bank targeted at Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. . Peter O'Driscoll of Coudert Brothers' London office led the Coudert Brothers team, with assistance from Olga Sirodoeva of Coudert Brothers New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Igor Panshensky and Yevgeny Voevodin of the firm's Moscow office and Kate Brizhik and Alexander Kalinov of Coudert Brothers' St. Petersburg office. Peter O'Driscoll and Olga Sirodoeva had represented Telenor in connection with its original US$168 million investment in VimpelCom in 1998. UBS UBS Union Bank of Switzerland UBS United Bible Societies UBS United Blood Services UBS United Buying Service UBS Used Bookstore UBS University Business Services UBS Universal Building Society (UK) UBS Ulaanbaatar Broadcasting System Warburg, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter were the underwriters of the ADSs and convertible notes. ZAO ZAO Zakrytoe Aktsionernoe Obschestvo (Russian: Closed Joint Stock Corporation) ZAO Zenith Angle Offset ZAO Aluminium Doped Zinc Oxide (material for producton of organic light-emitting diodes) Troika Dialog acted as VimpelCom's financial adviser. The underwriters were advised by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol . VimpelCom was advised by Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. EBRD EBRD See: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was advised by Le Bouef Lamb. On July 31, 2000 Coudert Brothers represented Telenor East Invest AS, in connection with its purchase 60% of the shares of OAO Comincom, a Russian high speed private network provider, from existing shareholders for US$60 million. Telenor simultaneously purchased 31% of the shares of Comincom's subsidiary, ZAO Combellga, from two Belgian telecom companies for approximately US$18 million. In addition to these acquisitions, Telenor is committed to invest an additional US$54 million in Comincom over the next three years. Comincom was formed in 1990 at the initiative of the Russian Federation's Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Communications to improve the range and quality of telecommunications in the former Soviet Union. The company provides high speed digital telecommunications services for foreign embassies, international organizations, leading news agencies and businesses. Comincom was the first independent Russian company to be recognized as an international operator by the International Telecommunications Union See ITU. (body, standard) International Telecommunications Union - (ITU) ITU-T, the telecommunication standardisation sector of ITU, is responsible for making technical recommendations about telephone and data (including fax) communications systems for PTTs and suppliers. . London office partner Peter O'Driscoll and Larisa Afanasyeva of the firm's Moscow office co-led the deal team. They were assisted by Kate Brizhik of Coudert Brothers St. Petersburg, Vladimir Markin, Yevgeny Voevodin and Tatiana Fokina of the firm's Moscow office, and Christine Trappes-Lomax of Coudert Brothers in London. Chris Moore and Max Voltchenko provided tax advice to Telenor, and Eric Deltour and Emilie Bourgeois of CB Brussels provided critical last minute liaison support with the Belgian sellers. Telenor's financial advisor was ZAO Troika Dialog. The financial advisors to Comincom's and Combellga's selling shareholders were Commerzbank AG, UCB UCB - University of California at Berkeley Flemings and Audit-Expertize. The selling shareholders were advised by J.P. Galmond & Co., a Danish law firm with offices in St. Petersburg and Moscow. |
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