British virtual mobile network operator Truphone, which is owned by several Russian oligarchs under Western sanctions, including Roman Abramovich, announced on Tuesday that it had been bought by European investors, AFP reported.

German technology entrepreneur Håkan Kok and Swiss investor Pirros Kousios, a former head of the telecommunications division, “completed the acquisition of Truphone with immediate effect,” the company said in a statement.

The acquisition, which was made for one pound, according to several British newspapers, was approved in late 2022 by the British government under the Investment and National Security Authorization Act, the statement said.

The Office for Financial Sanctions Enforcement (OFSI, part of the UK Treasury) also approved the deal.

The future of the company, which employs more than 400 people and supplies integrated SIM cards to phone operators, has been in doubt following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions imposed on oligarchs and entities linked to the Moscow regime.

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea Football Club, which has been under UK sanctions since March 2022, owned almost 23% of Truphone.

Two other oligarchs, Oleksandr Abramov and Oleksandr Frolov, who have also come under British sanctions since November, were also shareholders.

The UK authorities believed that the acquisition could “pose a threat to national security”, particularly regarding the “potential use of Truphone user data” in the UK.

So they imposed conditions on the two investors to buy Truphone, including appointing a government-approved chief information security officer.

In 2020, Truphone was valued at £410 million (approximately €464 million).