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TeliaSonera has signed an agreement with Kazakhtelecomto acquire its 49% stakein GSM Kazakhstan, operating under the brand Kcell for US$1.519bn. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be fin¬alised during the first quarter of 2012. TeliaSonera has also agreedto sell 25%of the shares minus one share in Kcell in an initial public offering during 2012. Depending on the share price development after the IPO, TeliaSonera may have to make an additional payment to Kazakhtelecom. At present, GSM Kazakhstan is owned by Fintur Holdings (51 %) and Kazakhtelecom (49%). Fintur Holdings is owned by TeliaSonera (58.55%) and Turkcell (41.45 %). Once both steps of the transaction have been completed, TeliaSonera's effective ownership in Kcell will be 61.74%.