Telenor's acquisition of Vodafone Sweden approved by competition authorities

"We are pleased to have secured the approval of the competition authorities, which allows us to conclude this transaction," said Morten Karlsen Sørby, Executive Vice President and Head of Telenor Nordic.

The acquisition of Vodafone Sweden strengthens Telenor's market position in Sweden and increases Telenor's Scandinavian mobile customer base by 37 per cent, reaching a total of 5.6 million subscribers.

On 31 October, Telenor entered into an agreement to acquire Vodafone Sweden at a price of EUR 1,035 million. Johan Lindgren, Deputy CEO and CFO of Bredbandsbolaget, has been appointed new CEO of Vodafone Sweden, and will take up his new responsibilities effective from the date of the takeover.

Vodafone Sweden is the third largest mobile operator in Sweden, with 1.5 million subscribers and a market share of 16 per cent (approx. 22 per cent measured in revenues). The company is the second largest provider in the Swedish business market, with a 30 per cent market share. For the financial year 2005, which ended 31 March 2005, Vodafone Sweden reported revenues of SEK 6.7 billion. Vodafone Sweden has so far been a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group.

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