VEON completes the sale of Djezzy, receiving USD 682 million

Amsterdam – VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and services, announces that it has received approximately USD 682 million following the completion of the sale of its stake in Djezzy Algeria. This transaction follows VEON’s previously announced strategy to streamline its portfolio.

Today’s announcement represents the completion of a transaction announced on 1 July 2021, when VEON disclosed that it had exercised its put option to sell the entirety of its 45.57% stake in its Algerian subsidiary, Omnium Telecom Algérie SpA to the Algerian National Investment Fund, Fonds National d’Investissement (FNI). Omnium owns the Algerian mobile network operator Djezzy.

The cash received from this transaction further strengthens VEON Group’s liquidity position. As of 4 August 2022, VEON Group’s total cash and deposits have increased to USD 3.1 billion, including USD 2.5 billion equivalent of USD- and EUR-denominated cash and deposits held by the headquarters in Amsterdam.

Group CEO Kaan Terzioglu commented: “Today, we completed the sale of our share in Djezzy to our partner FNI, marking an important step in our strategy of streamlining VEON’s portfolio. Under the leadership of Matthieu Galvani, the Djezzy team have built an exemplary telecommunications operator, which will continue to contribute to serve Algeria with best-in-class services. I would like to thank to the team for their hard work, and to the FNI for a successful partnership. VEON will continue to focus on large-scale, emerging markets where we can generate value with our digital operator model.”