On Thursday, under the decision of the Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia, 100% of shares of the company Orange Armenia were alienated in favor of Ucom.
The decision enters into force upon signature.
Francis Gelibter, the CEO at Orange Armenia, stated before that the sale of the Orange Armenia’s shares to Ucom had two goals. The first goal is to create in Armenia’s telecommunications a pressure Armenian company, which after closing the transaction will carve out near 20% of the whole telecommunications market. The second goal is that due to combining complementary capabilities there will appear a possibility to offer customers a package of services, including mobile communications, fixed-line telephony, fixed Internet and cable television.
We shall recall that on July 22 the Orange Armenia announced the exit from the Armenian market. As the reason for it, the company referred to the Orange’s share in the Armenian market, which is too small to recover the investment and ensure profit in the future.
The company Orange Armenia started providing mobile and Internet services in Armenia on November 5, 2009. According to the company’s official web site, it had invested EUR 277 million so far, including EUR 51 million for purchasing licence. According to the web site, over the past years, the Orange Armenia kept on operating at loss. As on March 31, 2015, the company’s total loss amounted to EUR 184.6 million over the previous years.
