VEON moves forward with Ukraine’s top telco Kyivstar list

By Gianluca Lo Nostro and Leo Marchandon

(Reuters) – Telecoms group VEON is moving ahead with plans to float its Kyivstar unit in the U.S. in a move that would make it the first Ukrainian company to list in the United States.

Dubai-based VEON has signed a letter of intent with the Cohen Group to combine their businesses, with the aim of listing Kyivstar indirectly on the Nasdaq, which has its own listing after the parent company delists from Amsterdam in 2024.

VEON aims to complete the listing of Ukraine’s leading mobile operator Kyivstar through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) by the end of the year, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters.

A SPAC was chosen as it was a simpler process than going through a formal IPO, the source added.

A definitive agreement with Cohen Circle, which is also listed on Nasdaq, is expected in the second quarter of 2025, VEON said in a statement.

The source said VEON chose America over Europe and Asia, where it operates its fintech and telecom brands, because it is the fastest-growing stock market in the world and the listing opens doors for international investors.

Ukraine’s telecom market, a strategic sector often targeted by Russian hackers, remains open to international investment. Last September, French billionaire and Iliad founder Xavier Niel bought Lifecell, Ukraine’s third largest mobile service provider, for more than $500 million.

The proposed US listing follows Kievstar’s launch of Elon Musk’s Starlink last December to provide direct satellite communications to cells in the war-torn country later this year.

Ukrainian and US officials have been very supportive of the listing project, which is supposed to rebuild Ukraine’s telecoms infrastructure as well as its consumer and corporate services, the source told Reuters.

VON has pledged to invest $1 billion in Ukraine’s digital infrastructure by 2027.

(Reporting by Leo Marchandon and Gianluca Lo Nostro in Gdansk; Editing by Mila Nici)