The board of Russian mobile giant MegaFon has given its blessing to the purchase of local exchange carrier GARS.
Providing a range of telecoms services to business customers, the bolt-on acquisition is part of MegaFon’s strategy to “enhance its…
The board of Russian mobile giant MegaFon has given its blessing to the purchase of local exchange carrier GARS.
Providing a range of telecoms services to business customers, the bolt-on acquisition is part of MegaFon’s strategy to “enhance its fixed-line presence in business centres in Moscow and expanding the company’s share in B2B market”.
It will buy GARS from Stayblon Limited and Cyprus-registered Giacomodex Finance Limited, for what is understood to be a low fee in relation to other telecoms transactions in Russia.
MegaFon declined to say how much it had spent on the asset, but said it would disclose terms upon completion.
The company, Russia’s second-largest mobile operator, reported consolidated revenues for Q1 2015 of Rbs74bn (US$1.37bn), a 1.2% fall from the same period last year. OIBDA was down 1.7% to Rbs32bn (US$594m), but net profit was up 2.4% for the same period to Rbs7.4bn (US$137m). Meanwhile net debt stood at Rbs129bn (US$2.39bn) as of 31 March 2015.
