Telenor acquires Vodafone Sweden
Vodafone Sweden is the third largest mobile operator in Sweden, with 1.5 million subscribers and a market share of approximately 15 per cent (23 per cent measured in revenues). Vodafone Sweden has higher average revenue per user than any of its competitors in the Swedish market. It is also the second largest player in the Swedish business market, with a 30 per cent market share among corporate customers. For the financial year 2005, ending at 31 March 2005, Vodafone Sweden posted SEK 6.7 billion in revenues. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group.
The acquisition of Vodafone Sweden will enhance Telenor's position in Sweden, and increase Telenor's Scandinavian mobile customer base by 37 per cent, totalling 5.6 million subscribers.
"This purchase will improve Telenor's competitive edge in the Swedish mobile market, and it will also improve our economic scale in the Nordic region," said Morten Karlsen Sørby, Executive Vice President Telenor.
The possession of Vodafone Sweden will strengthen Telenor's presence in the business market, where large business customers to an increasing degree demand seamless Nordic communications solutions. Through the acquisition of Vodafone Sweden, Telenor will be able to offer even more competitive services in the Scandinavian market.
"Following the acquisition of Vodafone Sweden, Telenor will stand out as a more attractive Nordic partner," continued Morten Karlsen Sørby.
Telenor and Vodafone have agreed the terms of a Partner Network Agreement in Sweden, allowing Telenor, Vodafone Sweden and Vodafone customers to benefit from Vodafone's global brand, products and services in Sweden. The transaction will be concluded by the turn of the year 2005/2006, provided that approval is secured from EU competition authorities.
For further information, please contact:
Pål Kvalheim, Communications Director, Telenor Nordic, Tel: +47 970 44 970. E-mail:
Dag Melgaard, Chief Press Spokesman, Telenor ASA, Tel: +47 67 89 26 71 or +47 901 92 000.
To the editorial offices:
Press and analyst conference
In connection with Telenor's acquisition of Vodafone Sweden, a press and analyst conference will be held on Monday 31 October at 17:30 CET in Auditorium A, Telenor Expo Visitors Centre, at Telenor's headquarters at Fornebu. All presentations will be given in English.
Internet and mobile broadcast
The press and analysts conference will be broadcast live over the Internet, and will also be available as a recording after the conference. The live service also allows for written questions to be submitted. In addition, the conference will be available live and as a recording on mobile phones with 3G, GPRS or EDGE. For more details please refer to www.telenor.com/ir.
Conference call and Q&A
The press and analyst conference will also be available as a conference call, and participants will be given the opportunity to ask questions directly after the presentations and a Q&A session in the auditorium. To participate in the conference call, please register well in advance by calling
(+47) 800 80 119 (from Norway) or (+47) 23 00 04 00 (from Norway or abroad).
Materials
The presentation used during the press and analyst conference will also be available on www.telenor.com/ir.