Russian-based VimpelCom Ltd. and Weather Investments S.p.A today announced that they will be merging to become the world’s fifth largest mobile telecommunications carrier with over 174 million subscribers and operations in 20 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. As part of the agreement, VimpelCom will hold 51.7% of Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E., the backing company behind Canadian carrier WIND Mobile.
At this point, it is unclear what this will mean for WIND Mobile, the carrier that launched back in December 2009. One option would be status quo. Another would be for VimpelCom end the agreement between Orascom and WIND Mobile and sell WIND Mobile to another foreign operator. It’s also not clear what it means for the new round of financing worth several hundred million dollars that WIND Mobile is currently negotiating with Orascom.
With the transaction not expected to be completed before Q1 2011, it may be a while before we understand the ramifications of this merger for WIND Mobile.