VimpelCom Discussing Merger

Russian mobile phone giant VimpelCom VIP is said to be in talks with Egyption billionaire Naguib Sawiris regarding a combination of assets that could be worth $25 billion. Sawiris would become a significant minority investor in the new company, which would include his Weather Investments SpA’s 51 percent stake in Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Holding SAE and Italian mobile operator Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, according to Bloomberg News. The transaction would create a company with more than 200 million subscribers and give VimpelCom access to new markets in Africa and the Middle East. VimpelCom, based in the Netherlands, is Russia's second-largest mobile phone company. The company had a first-quarter profit of $412 million, Bloomberg reported.