Press release

No.: 80/2000
Date: 08.09.2000

Telenor: The Norwegian state's responsibility for ownership transferred from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to the Ministry of Trade and Industry

Effective as from September 8. the responsibility for managing the Norwegian state’s shareholding in Telenor has been transferred from the Ministry of Transport and Communications to the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The transfer is a follow-up of the Government’s proposal to Parliament in May 2000 to partly privatise the company.

In this proposal, which was discussed in Parliament in June, it was noted that the management of the shareholding would be transferred to the Ministry of Trade and Industry immediately after the Initial Public Offering (IPO).

The final time schedule for the IPO will not be affected by the transfer, but will be dependent upon market conditions. After an overall consideration of the different aspects, it has been decided that the management of the shareholding should be transferred now, even though the IPO has not yet taken place. The transfer implies a clear boundary between ownership and regulation. This is seen as necessary in order to ensure that the market has confidence that the roles of the owners and regulators are properly organized and that there is no overlap between these roles.