Prosecutor Gunnar Stetler at the National Anti-corruption unit. Photo: Bertil Ericson / TT
It was in December that TeliaSonera announced that it was selling its entire holding of 60 percent in the Nepalese operator Ncell . The price amounts to approximately SEK 8.8 billion. Buyers are Axiata, one of Asia’s largest telecom groups.
But in addition to the store sells also its stake in a local holding company that owns 20 of Ncell. The store is surrounded by many question marks. Who or which TeliaSonera does business when selling holdings in the local holding company is not aware of Telia’s CEO Johan He Lind.
It is remarkable given that the sale gives very little money – only 400 million crowns, a significantly lower score than the Axiata.
He Johan Lind. Photo: Magnus Hjalmarsson Neideman
SvD Business can in audit show that TeliaSonera’s CEO Johan He Lind with the sale of the holding company in Nepal chosen the same business partners who previously criticized the management of TeliaSonera Lars Nyberg at the head.
the current company in Singapore who buy the holding company named Sunivera Capital and has a private person as the owner.
Who is the owner?
– There is a nepalisk businesswoman. She is married to Nepalese businessman, says CEO Johan He Lind.
Who is her husband?
– His name is Satish, I think. Something like that. But the local partner is Mrs. Bhavana Singh.
Can Telia promise customers and Swedish taxpayers that there is money laundering or corruption in Nepal deal?
– We have done as much as we can to find out, and we see no problem, says TeliaSonera’s CEO Johan He Lind.
But the deal with Mrs. Bhavana Singh may be questionable in terms of corruption legislation .
– to sell something to an obvious loss is in itself a gift, you give someone an economic advantage. Would any counterparties located in such as “political turn”, that is to benefit the seller improperly in its decision making, and there is a reasonable explanation, suspected of bribery arise. To show that it is predatory must of course also be shown that it had agreed to sell at a higher price, says chief prosecutor Gunnar Stetler at the National Anti-Corruption Unit to SvD Business.
Gunnar Stetlers response is general and does not specifically TeliaSonera’s actions in Nepal.
For SvD has been CEO Johan He Lind stated that more than 80 percent discount on one-fifth of the shares that Telia is selling in Ncell explained by low interest .
– the demand for local equities are quite low because there will be a lower price on the part of the deal, he said.
But that is not the picture that SvD get. The interest to buy Telia’s shareholding has existed in several Nepalese company. Among others mentioned Nepal’s only Forbes billionaire Binod Chaudhary, Sipradi Group and the IME Group of Nepal’s largest bank, according to the local news website Pahilopost.
When SvD Business reaches one of the stakeholders, Sipradi Group Chairman Siddhartha Rana, he confirms that they signed a confidentiality agreement with Telia to participate in a sales process, an agreement that still applies. But Sipradi Group invited Never in the process.
– We were not given an opportunity to decide to buy the 20 percent stake that TeliaSonera now sold, says Siddhartha Rana to SvD Business.
Mikael Damberg, Industry Minister and head of the Swedish state’s ownership of more than 37 percent of Telia, do not see any red warning flags.
Does it matter how TeliaSonera leave Nepal?
– Yes, we have had a dialogue with the company about the importance of making a responsible exit. One of the things the company is very clear is that it has made an examination by experts of this deal, says Mikael Damberg.
So even if you do not know what to do this deal with so do you think therefore that it is responsible?
– If there is new information that was not known, it is reasonable that the company looks at them and see what you can do to sort out question marks, says Damberg.
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