Wind Mobile to become fully foreign owned
Published on Friday January 18, 2013 The Canadian Press
Small Canadian wireless player Wind Mobile has signed a deal to be fully foreign owned and controlled by a global telecom company.
The agreement is with VimpelCom subsidiary Orascom, which already owns 65.1 per cent of the company and was an original financial backer of Wind Mobile, chairman and CEO Anthony Lacavera said Friday.
“Assuming that the government is satisfied, then yes, this would be the first example of a foreign controlled telecommunications carrier in Canada,” Lacavera said in an interview from Toronto.
The agreement comes after recent changes by Industry Canada allowing telecom companies with less than 10 per cent of the market to have no restrictions on foreign investment.
Foreign ownership limits for large telecom companies such as Rogers Communications Inc., Bell and Telus remains at 33.3 per cent.
Wind Mobile launched in December 2009. The company says it now has 600,000 subscribers with its network in Toronto and southern Ontario, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Rogers, Bell and Telus, have more than 24 million wireless customers combined.
Lacavera said he’ll still have an economic stake in Wind Mobile and will stay on in his role until the deal closes. He didn’t release any financial details of the agreement.
He now plans to start a venture capital company focused on telecom, technology and media, saying there’s not enough capital available to young entrepreneurs.
