Vimpelcom closer to Wind, Orascom stake buy

MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Russian telecoms group Vimpelcom Ltd's board has provisionally approved the purchase of Italian mobile operator Wind and a stake in Egyptian group Orascom Telecom, Vedomosti reported on Wednesday.

The business daily, citing unnamed sources, said Vimpelcom's key shareholders, Altimo and Telenor, gave their general approval to the acquisitions at a meeting last week but also asked for more pricing details before a final decision.

The issue of the acquisition of the assets was again raised at a Vimpelcom board meeting on Tuesday, but Vedomosti's sources did not know the outcome of that meeting.

Vimpelcom declined to comment, when contacted by Reuters.

Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris has told a newspaper that his holding company, Weather Investments, which owns Wind and just over half of Orascom, was talking to Vimpelcom — his first public confirmation of talks that could create a company worth $25 billion.