Oybek Tursunov buys Perfectum's head office and other operator assets for nearly 100 billion soums

Shareholders approved the sale of assets

Entrepreneur Oybek Tursunov is acquiring real estate and other assets of the mobile operator Perfectum for a total of 98.37 billion soums including VAT. The transaction was approved by the shareholders of Rubicon Wireless Communication JSC, which operates under the Perfectum brand, at an extraordinary general meeting on October 16, and the decision was disclosed on the Unified Corporate Information Portal on October 23, Gazeta reports.

What exactly is being sold

The main object of the deal is a real estate complex located at 21 Taras Shevchenko Street, Mirzo Ulugbek... actually the Mirabad district, Tashkent, where Perfectum's head office is situated. It occupies a land plot of 7,283 square meters (0.72 hectares) and includes four buildings with a total area of 10,479 square meters, of which 8,677 square meters is usable space. The buildings contain 57 premises, including 47 office rooms. The complex is valued at 65.97 billion soums including VAT. In addition, the company is selling 2,012 fixed assets with a total value of 32.41 billion soums; a detailed list of them is not provided in the published disclosure. The deal provides for the conclusion of two sale and purchase agreements.

Decision of the meeting

The decision of the general meeting of shareholders states: «To approve the conclusion of a major transaction (two sale and purchase agreements) carried out in connection with the sale by Rubicon Wireless Communication JSC of property to a third party — Tursunov Oybek Batirovich — at a total sale price of 98,374,503,360 soums including value added tax». The shareholders instructed the executive director to sign the agreements and transfer and acceptance acts, as well as to ensure compliance with legislation. The decision was supported unanimously: all 572.39 million voting shares represented at the meeting voted «in favor».

Connection with the VEON deal

The sale of assets was approved on October 16 — three days before the international group VEON, which owns the operator Beeline Uzbekistan, announced the signing of an agreement to purchase 100% of the shares of Rubicon Wireless Communication. The total value of that deal is about 207 million dollars, including Perfectum's financial debt of approximately 93 million dollars; net of debt, this is roughly 114 million dollars. The buyer of the shares is VEON UZB Holding Ltd. According to the corporate disclosure, the share purchase agreement was to be concluded on October 19 through the submission of irrevocable offers in the over-the-counter trading system of the Republican Stock Exchange «Toshkent». Uzbekistan's Competition Committee approved the purchase with conditions: the operator must maintain its independence for at least three years, and the current 5G FWA tariffs for 12 months; requirements regarding service quality and protection of subscribers' rights have also been established.

Context and significance

The sale of real estate and equipment on the eve of a change of ownership means that VEON will receive the operator without its head office and part of its fixed assets — these are being bought by a private buyer. For Perfectum subscribers, the practical consequences are currently limited to the conditions set by the antitrust authority: maintaining the company's independence for three years and the 5G FWA tariffs for 12 months. What is included in the list of 2,012 fixed assets and how the complex on Shevchenko Street, 21, will be used is not specified in the disclosure — these questions remain open.