Russia’s antitrust authority FAS has pushed back the deadline for a decision on plans to merge MegaFon and Scartel (Yota) under a new holding company. The regulator wants to wait for the outcome of the current LTE tender first, which are expected…
Russia’s antitrust authority FAS has pushed back the deadline for a decision on plans to merge MegaFon and Scartel (Yota) under a new holding company. The regulator wants to wait for the outcome of the current LTE tender first, which are expected to be announced on 12 July, RBC Daily reported.
The FAS decision on the proposed merger is now due on 25 July.
MegaFon, along with other major players VimpelCom and MTS, are widely considered to be most likely to win spectrum in the auction.
The RBC Daily report cited a source close to the FAS as saying that, if MegaFon is awarded a licence, chances of the FAS rejecting the proposed deal would increase.
Scartel launched an LTE network earlier this month. Last year, the company announced it had signed an agreement with MegaFon, VimpelCom, MTS and Rostelecom allowing them to use the then-to-be-launched network to offer 4G services.
Earlier media reports said Alisher Usmanov, MegaFon’s new controlling shareholder, would own more than 80% of the new holding company which, in turn, would own Usmanov’s 50%-plus-one-share stake in MegaFon and all Scartel shares.
MegaFon was not immediately available for comment.
