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VimpelCom, Hutchison complete Italian JV transaction

MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. Vimpelcom Ltd. and Hutchison Holdings have completed the transaction to combine their businesses in Italy - Wind Telecomunicazioni (Vimpelcom) and 3 Italia (Hutchison), VimpelCom said in a press release on Monday.

The transaction estimated at 7.9 bln euro is "one of the largest M&A transactions in Italy since 2007," the company said. The expected profit is 700 mln euro per year. "Through the combined business, Hutchison and VimpelCom will create a strong new operator in Italy, driving competition in the market and serving over 31 million mobile customers and 2.7 million fixed line customers," the report said. Maximo Ibarra, the current Chief Executive Officer of Wind, will lead the joint venture.

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According to Jean-Yves Charlier, Chief Executive Officer of VimpelCom, the transaction to bring Wind and 3 Italia together will "build a world-class 4G/LTE network in Italy."

As was reported earlier, VimpelCom and Hutchison Holdings received final approval from Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development for their 50/50 joint venture on October 25. Earlier, the joint venture received approval from the European Commission (EC).

VimpelCom is an international telecommunication company providing services under the Beeline, Kyivstar, Djuice, Wind, Infostrada, Mobilink, Leo, Banglalink and Telecel brands.

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