Telemobil to raise over $270 million

Shareholders of Telemobil, the operator of Zapp network, approved in late September the increase of the company's share capital by 9,262.4 billion ROL (about 273 million dollars), through contributions in kind by shareholders or through the conversion of the various shareholder loans granted to the company.

The operation will be accompanied by an issue of more than 370 million shares with a face value of 25,0000 ROL/share. Shareholders may opt for full payment on the date of subscription or for paying 30% at that moment and the rest over a three-year period since publication in the Official Gazette, namely October 13th.

"The capital increase is the natural outcome of some legal judgments (compatibility with Law 31/1990) and commercial ones (the development of the business)," a Telemobil official stated. "Th e new financial resources will be mainly used for the development of the Zapp network. We are targeting a significant expansion of the coverage area. As a matter of fact, works are carried out countrywide and by the end of this year the coverage will be raised to over 90% of the urban population and 80% in terms of territory and the network capacity will be improved".

Telemobil chairman Cuneyt Turktan has recently stated: "We have invested 50 million dollars in the third phase of the network development countrywide this year. By the end of this year, Zapp plans to completely cover all the cities and highways of Romania, and there is also the Ev-Do service available, which allows for faster Internet access at up to 2.4 Mbps". victor@zf.ro