TeliaSonera hires UBS, others for Eurasia sale

Reuters reports that Swedish telecoms group TeliaSonera has hired investment bank UBS to advise it on a planned sale of its ‘Eurasia’ mobile operations, following the announcement in September that it intended to divest the seven-country portfolio. UBS said on its website: ‘UBS Limited is acting as advisor to TeliaSonera on the potential disposal of its Eurasian assets,’ while a TeliaSonera spokesman said several other, unnamed advisors had been hired for the sale. In September TeliaSonera said it would exit Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Nepal, Georgia and Moldova to sharpen its focus on its Sweden and Europe divisions. The strategic decision follows a troubled period in which the group was affected by investigations into corruption allegations in Eurasian markets, exacerbated by tough macroeconomic conditions and price competition across the Eurasia footprint.