VimpelCom Ltd. has narrowly won a shareholder vote to complete its merger with Wind Telecom, formalising a deal worth over US$6 billion that will create the world’s sixth largest operator. Shareholders representing 93.1 percent of VimpelCom’s voting shares participated in an SGM today – a vote that has been hotly contested due to its largest shareholder (Russia’s Altimo) being in favour of the deal and its second-largest (Norway’s Telenor) being opposed. In the end, 53.3 percent of shareholders voted in favour, though 60.2 percent of unaffiliated shareholders voted against the merger. In a statement, Telenor spokesman Dag Melgaard noted that “if Altimo’s additional voting rights (through the preferred shares it holds) are excluded, a clear majority of 51.5 percent of the total economic interests in VimpelCom said no to the deal.”

However, the Norwegian firm said it remained “committed” to VimpelCom despite the vote not going its way. “Even though we believe VimpelCom would have been better off without this deal, we will now continue to work in the best interest of VimpelCom and its shareholders,” added Melgaard. But Telenor also noted that it will continue to pursue its court proceedings to secure the pre-emptive rights it believes it was deprived of as a result of the Wind transaction.

The newly-merged VimpelCom/Wind will create a new global telecom player with over 173 million mobile subscribers covering a population of 838 million people. “The combined group will have a significantly diversified revenue base, substantially larger scale of operations, and potential synergies estimated to be US$2.5 billion on a net present value basis,” said VimpelCom CEO Alexander Izosimov (pictured).

The transaction is still subject to regulatory approvals but is expected to be completed in the first half of the year.