Russia’s antitrust regulator has approved MegaFon’s potential acquisition of 4G wireless broadband operator Scartel (Yota).
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said it has granted MegaFon’s request to acquire 100% of Maxiten, which owns…
Russia’s antitrust regulator has approved MegaFon’s potential acquisition of 4G wireless broadband operator Scartel (Yota).
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said it has granted MegaFon’s request to acquire 100% of Maxiten, which owns Scartel.
MegaFon, Russia’s second-largest mobile operator, subsequently issued its own statement saying it is considering “a potential transaction” but, at present, there is no certainty that it will go ahead.
“The application to FAS was sought as an initial part of a transaction which is still under negotiation,” the company said.
In mid-June, MegaFon CEO Ivan Tavrin had confirmed that his company would be interested in buying Scartel, which he described as “a very interesting asset”, depending on the terms.
Oligarch Alisher Usmanov owns a 50%+1 stake in MegaFon, and also 82% of Scartel, both through investment firm USM Holdings. MegaFon already uses Scartel’s LTE network to offer 4G services after agreeing a tie-up last year – the partnership means MegaFon has access to 50% of Russia’s LTE spectrum.
Scartel has been reportedly valued at US$1bn.
