Oct 7 Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne fund does not intend to buy the 33 percent stake in Vimpelcom that Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor has put up for sale, the Vedomosti daily reported on Wednesday, citing two sources.
LetterOne has 47.9 percent of voting rights in Vimpelcom and was seen as a potential bidder for the stake, which is valued at around $2.3 billion.
Telenor has long been in open conflict with Fridman over control of Vimpelcom and its strategy, to the point where it became a diplomatic issue between Oslo and Moscow. (Reporting by Alexander Winning and Anastasia Teterevleva; Editing by Andrew Osborn)