Russia’s Rostelecom has gained full control of local cableco National Telecommunications (NTK) by acquiring a 28.2% stake for RUB13.8bn (US$465.9m).
The transaction was completed at an estimated adjusted EV/EBITDA multiple of 8-8.5x for 2011,…
Russia’s Rostelecom has gained full control of local cableco National Telecommunications (NTK) by acquiring a 28.2% stake for RUB13.8bn (US$465.9m).
The transaction was completed at an estimated adjusted EV/EBITDA multiple of 8-8.5x for 2011, Rostelecom said in a statement.
Commenting on the deal, Rostelecom CEO Alexander Provotorov said: “Gaining full control over NTK is very important for Rostelecom as it enables us to strengthen the management of NTK’s assets and … fully realise synergies in the regions where both companies operate.”
Rostelecom said the acquisition of Gazprombank and VTB Capital’s combined minority stake in NTK “is expected to result in the realisation of approximately RUB2bn (US$67.5m) in synergies by 2015”.
Rostelecom, in which the Russian government holds a majority stake, acquired a 71.8% stake in NTK in February 2011 for RUB27.9bn (US$942m).
Since then, the company said NTK’s operating and financial performance have both improved.
“Preliminary results indicate that NTK’s revenue increased by 14% year-on-year to RUB10.8bn (US$365.5m)for the full year of 2011 and OIBDA increased by 27% year-on-year to RUB4.4bn (US$149m) for the corresponding period,” the statement said. Net debt was RUB2.3bn (US$77.8m)as at the end of 2011, compared with RUB2.8bn (US$94.8m)at the end of the previous year, it added.
According to Rostelecom, NTK had more than 5.1 million subscribers at the end of 2011.
Russian businessman Suleiman Kerimov, a minority shareholder in Rostelecom, reportedly also targeted Gazrombank and VTB’s combined stake in NTK.
Local news agency RBC reported the banks received offers of Rbs4.53bn (US$150.56m) and Rbs6.45bn (US$214.5m) respectively in February but that Rostelecom was expected to submit a higher offer.
