Telenor Chairman Quits After ‘Lack of Confidence’ From Minister

Telenor ASA (TEL) Chairman Harald Norvik resigned after the Norwegian government questioned his handling of the sale of a stake in the country’s largest commercial television broadcaster.

Trade and Industry Minister Trond Giske “expressed a lack of confidence” in Norvik, citing his handling of the sale of the Fornebu, Norway-based company’s remaining stake in TV2 in January this year, Norvik said in a statement.

A-Pressen AS, owned by Telenor and Norway’s LO trade union, agreed to sell its stake in the broadcaster to Egmont International Holding A/S, a closely held Copenhagen-based media company and publisher, for 2.1 billion kroner ($366 million) in January. The Norwegian government owns a 54 percent stake in Telenor.

Giske exerted pressure on Telenor not to sell A-Pressen’s stake as he preferred a Norwegian owner for the TV station, Norvik said Jan. 13. Giske said that he didn’t breach policy in raising questions about Telenor’s move to sell its holding in the broadcaster.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Treloar in Oslo at streloar1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christian Wienberg at cwienberg@bloomberg.net