Russian mobile operator MTS extends buyback deadline until June 18

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's largest mobile operator MTS has extended the deadline on a proposed buyback for foreign shareholders by three weeks to June 18, it said on Monday of a deal that could allow Western investors to recoup some funds stranded in Russia.

The proposal mirrors that of Magnit in 2023, when the retailer completed a discounted buyback worth about $736 million.

The Kremlin demands a discount of at least 50% on any asset sales involving foreigners.

MTS' offer, launched last month, would see the company buy back up to 4.2% of its shares at a discount to its share price of around 70%, with its wholly-owned subsidiary Stream Digital as the buyer.

"The purchaser decided to extend the deadline for its tender offer after it received a substantial number of enquiries from certain shareholders in order to provide investors with sufficient time to submit the required documentation," MTS said in a statement.

The buyback's parameters have already won Russian government approval. The deadline for shareholders to accept the offer was extended to June 18, from the previous deadline of May 28.

MTS said non-residents whose shares are held in special 'type-C' accounts, access to which is blocked unless Moscow grants a waiver, would be able to participate and that funds can be received in any currency in bank accounts within Russia or abroad.

Magnit's offer represented the first opportunity for non-resident shareholders of a Russian public company to dispose of their shareholdings with settlement in different currencies since the West imposed sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine and subsequent Russian countermeasures restricted the flow of capital.

(Reporting by Reuters and Alexander MarrowEditing by David Goodman, Kirsten Donovan)