The FINANCIAL — According to online magazine Civil Georgia, British investment fund Growth Management Ltd has bought 10% stake of the Georgia’s largest internet provider Caucasus Online for an undisclosed amount, Reuters reported.
Mamia Sanadiradze, chief executive of Caucasus Online, owned 95.1% before the deal. TBC Bank owns 4.9% of stake into the company.
Caucasus Online emerged as a near monopoly with about 90% of the market in 2006 after taking over two major internet providers – Sanet and Georgia Online. The company plans its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange by the end of this year to become the second Georgian company listed on the LSE after Bank of Georgia. Last September Caucasus Online signed a contract with the U.S.-based Tyco Telecommunications, to lay a 1,100-kilometer underseas fiber optic system to link Georgia with Bulgaria.
Turn over for internet providers grew to GEL 26.15 million (USD 15.5 million) in 2006, up from GEL 19.8 million (USD 11 million) in 2005, according to the Georgian National Communications Commission. Figures for 2007 are not yet available.
Discussion about this post