Russian mobile operator MegaFon is drawing closer to its planned listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), securing regulatory approval to list up to 20% of its shares abroad.
Russia’s Federal Financial Markets Service announced it will allow the…
Russian mobile operator MegaFon is drawing closer to its planned listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), securing regulatory approval to list up to 20% of its shares abroad.
Russia’s Federal Financial Markets Service announced it will allow the company, in which investor Alisher Usmanov secured a controlling stake in April via AF Telecom, to list 123.38 million ordinary shares outside the Russian Federation.
MegaFon applied to the regulator early this month.
The company – Russia’s second largest mobile operator – initially planned to hold an IPO of up to 20% of the company’s shares on the LSE in July, but difficult market conditions led it to postpone this listing until mid-autumn. The IPO is expected to raise about US$4bn.
AF Telecom owns 50% plus one share of MegaFon, Swedish telecoms group TeliaSonera owns 35.6% and MegaFon subsidiary, MegaFon Investments (Cyprus), owns 14.4%.
Announcing the ownership changes and planned IPO in April, MegaFon’s major shareholders said TeliaSonera would contribute up to 10.6% of the shares to be floated, while MegaFon would contribute up to 9.4%.
