Norway-based Telenor today confirmed that the telecom operator has received an expression of interest to sell its mobile business in central and eastern Europe, and will evaluate its options.
The telecom company’s mobile phone operations in the central and eastern Europe region are based in Hungary, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia. Telenor did not reveal the name of the potential buyer and the strategy behind the exit plan.
Telenor recently sold its India telecom business to Airtel. Telenor’s India business made huge losses due to tough market conditions in India.
“With a view of creating shareholder value, Telenor has engaged in a process to evaluate the interest received. Telenor expects to conduct these assessments in the first quarter of 2018,” it said in a statement.
Telenor will report its full-year 2017 earnings on January 31.
Telenor said the eastern and central European operations contributed with approximately 9 percent of Telenor Group’s revenues and approximately 8 percent of EBITDA before other items in 2017.
Telenor has telecom business operations in 12 countries, including the four in continental Europe, three in the Nordic region and five in Asia, with a combined wireless customer base of 176 million.
