The Ukrainian antitrust authority has approved Systems Capital Management’s (SCM) planned acquisition of a 92.79% indirect stake in Ukrtelecom for an estimated US$1.3bn.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine announced the approval today, three and a…
The Ukrainian antitrust authority has approved Systems Capital Management’s (SCM) planned acquisition of a 92.79% indirect stake in Ukrtelecom for an estimated US$1.3bn.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine announced the approval today, three and a half months after the signing of the agreement was made public.
SCM, owned by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, will buy 100% of the shares in holding company UA Telecominvest, which owns the 92.79% stake in Kiev-based telco Ukrtelecom, from Austrian-based investment firm Epic.
Akhmetov is said to be close to Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich.
The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed, but the 92.79% stake was valued at US$1.3bn when Epic acquired it from the Ukrainian state in 2011. Analysts have estimated the stake is still worth the same price.
SCM’s adviser for the deal was UK affiliate SCM Advisers, while Epic received advice from group companies EAL and EMC and M&A advisory arm EFC.
SCM, which manages Ukraine’s largest financial and industrial group, already has investments in two other local telcos: a 100% stake in fixed-line operator Vega and a minority stake in number three mobile operator Astelit, which operates under the brand name Life. Turkcell is Astelit’s majority shareholder.
Announcing the agreement in early June, SCM managing director Ilya Arkhipov described the deal as a “promising” telecoms investment project.
Founded in 1993, Ukrtelecom claims to have an approximate 71% share of the local fixed-line telephony market and 83% of the long-distance and international telephony markets.
Ukraine’s two largest mobile operators are Kyivstar, co-owned by Norway’s Telenor and Russia’s Alfa Group, and the local unit of Russian telco MTS.
