Telenor to appeal Greek court ruling

The legal process has been described in Telenor's annual report for 2001 in note 24.

Telenor strongly disagrees with the court's recognition of said claim, and will consequently appeal the judgment. The judgment is not final. There will not be made any payment by Telenor before a possible final judgment against Telenor is rendered.

The background for the claim is an alleged breach of contract when Telenor B-Invest AS sold Cosmote-shares to WR Com Enterprises Ltd and Telenor Mobile Communications AS acquired WR Com Enterprises Ltd's shares in Telenor B-Invest AS. Telenor B-Invest AS was a holding company of 30 percent of the shares in the Greek mobile company Cosmote. Telenor Mobile Communications AS and WR Com Enterprises Ltd owned 73,33 percent and 26,67 percent of the shares in Telenor B-Invest AS respectively.

In the fall of 2000 Telenor B-Invest AS sold 8 percent of the total outstanding share capital in Cosmote to WR Com Enterprises Ltd and simultaneously Telenor acquired all of WR Com Enterprises Ltd's shares in Telenor B-Invest AS. The claim arose through a disagreement in relation to the price of the shares in the said transactions.

In the accounts for the fourth quarter 2002, Telenor will make provisions to reflect the judgment, of which NOK 414 million will be recorded as an adjustment to previous periods tax expenses.

Contact: