Oybek Tursunov, the elder son-in-law of the president, is buying real estate and other assets of mobile operator Perfectum for a total of 98.37 billion soums, USD 8.2 million, including value-added tax (VAT). Shareholders of Rubicon Wireless Communication, which operates under the Perfectum brand, approved the deal at an extraordinary general meeting on Oct. 16.
The decision was disclosed on the Unified Portal of Corporate Information on Oct. 23.
According to the document, the company will sell Tursunov real estate in central Tashkent, where Perfectum’s head office is located, along with 2,012 fixed assets. The deal provides for two sale-and-purchase agreements.
The main item is a real estate complex at 21 Taras Shevchenko Street in Tashkent’s Mirabad district. It sits on a plot of 7,283 square meters (0.72 hectare) and includes four buildings with a total floor area of 10,479 sq m, of which 8,677 sq m is usable space.
The buildings contain 57 premises, 47 of them office space. The complex is valued at 65.97 billion soums including VAT.
Perfectum is also selling 2,012 fixed assets with a combined value of 32.41 billion soums. The detailed list that the shareholders’ decision refers to is not included in the published disclosure.
The total sale price comes to 98.4 billion soums.
“Approve the conclusion of a major transaction (two sale-and-purchase agreements) made in connection with the sale by Rubicon Wireless Communication of property to a third party, Oybek Batirovich Tursunov, at a total sale price of 98,374,503,360 soums including value-added tax,” the shareholders’ decision said.
Shareholders instructed the company’s executive director to sign the sale-and-purchase agreements and the property transfer certificates, and to ensure compliance with the law in carrying out the deal.
The decision was adopted unanimously, with all 572.39 million voting shares represented at the meeting cast in favor.
How the sale relates to VEON’s acquisition of Perfectum
The sale of the real estate and fixed assets was approved on Oct. 16, three days before the international group VEON announced its acquisition of Perfectum.
On Oct. 19, VEON, which owns the operator Beeline Uzbekistan, said it had signed an agreement to buy 100% of Rubicon Wireless Communication’s shares.
The total value of the deal is about $207 million, including Perfectum’s financial debt of about $93 million. Excluding the assumed debt, the deal is worth an estimated $114 million.
The buyer of the shares is VEON UZB Holding Ltd.
According to Rubicon Wireless Communication’s corporate disclosure, the current shareholders and VEON UZB Holding were due to sign the share sale-and-purchase agreement on Oct. 19. The transfer of shares involves submitting irrevocable orders through the over-the-counter trading system of the Tashkent Republican Stock Exchange.
The Competition Committee of Uzbekistan approved VEON’s purchase of Perfectum. The operator must remain independent for at least three years, and current 5G FWA tariffs must be kept for 12 months. Requirements on service quality and protection of subscribers’ rights have also been set.
