Kazakhtelecom’s CEO provides insight on Tele2 and Altel sale

According to Bagdat Musin, former minister of digital development and current CEO of the Kazakhtelecom telecommunications company, the sale of Mobile Telecom-Service, which operates under the Tele2 and Altel brands, will be completed by the end of this year. The deal was initially planned to be closed by late September. 

«We are going to close this deal before the year ends, but there is room for some challenges to appear, making us meet the buyer halfway. Although the contract has already been signed, this is a foreign investor, so we have to adjust to their procedures. We are looking for mutually beneficial grounds to meet all our interests, and as soon as we do so, the payment will be executed. So, speaking of terms, I suppose we will close the deal before the end of this year, otherwise not later than the first quarter of 2025,» said Musin on the sidelines of the Kursiv Ecosystems Forum 2024 conference in Almaty.

In early September, Nurlan Baibazarov, minister of national economy of Kazakhstan, announced that the sale of the company to a Qatari investor “must be finalized in September.” While the exact price hasn’t been revealed due to commercial confidentiality, Kazakhtelecom, the sole shareholder of Mobile Telecom-Service, valued the asset at approximately $1.09 billion. This figure was also mentioned by Kazakhstan’s Minister of Digital Development Zhaslan Madiyev in early summer.

According to the initial plan, Mobile Telecom-Service was set to be acquired by a private investor before 2025 as part of the privatization program. Qatari Power International Holding expressed interest in the acquisition and entered into a sale agreement. Currently, Kazakhtelecom is the sole owner of the company slated for sale, while the telecom operator itself is managed by the quasi-public Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund.