Veon closed the sale of its minority interest in the company running Algerian operator Djezzy for $682 million, the latest move by the operator group to trim down its assets.

The buyer of the 45.57 per cent stake was Djezzy’s majority shareholder Fonds National d’Investissement (Algeria’s national investment fund). The country now holds almost all of the shares in the operator’s parent company Omnium Telecom Algerie.

The price of the transaction was set by a third-party organisation, which assessed the operation and defined a fair value for the asset.

Veon’s latest sale marks the completion of the divestment of Djezzy, which began in 2015 under its previous guise of VimpelCom.

It sold the majority stake for $2.6 billion, but retained responsibility for management of the operation.

Veon CEO Kaan Terzioglu (pictured) said the move marked an important step in efforts to streamline its portfolio, adding the company would “continue to focus on large-scale, emerging markets where we can generate value with our digital operator model”.

Aside from its exit from Algeria, the company sold its operation in Georgia earlier this year having sold tower assets in Russia in 2021 and exited Armenia in 2020.

Veon noted the cash would be used to improve the company’s liquidity position.