Advertisement
UK markets closed

  • FTSE 100

    8,139.83
    +60.97 (+0.75%)
     

  • FTSE 250

    19,824.16
    +222.18 (+1.13%)
     

  • AIM

    755.28
    +2.16 (+0.29%)
     

  • GBP/EUR

    1.1679
    +0.0022 (+0.19%)
     

  • GBP/USD

    1.2494
    -0.0017 (-0.13%)
     

  • Bitcoin GBP

    51,093.01
    -543.76 (-1.05%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,327.37
    -69.16 (-4.95%)
     

  • S&P 500

    5,099.96
    +51.54 (+1.02%)
     

  • DOW

    38,239.66
    +153.86 (+0.40%)
     

  • CRUDE OIL

    83.66
    +0.09 (+0.11%)
     

  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,349.60
    +7.10 (+0.30%)
     

  • NIKKEI 225

    37,934.76
    +306.28 (+0.81%)
     

  • HANG SENG

    17,651.15
    +366.61 (+2.12%)
     

  • DAX

    18,161.01
    +243.73 (+1.36%)
     

  • CAC 40

    8,088.24
    +71.59 (+0.89%)
     
PROPERTY:

9 luxury homes to consider if money is no object

Ever thought about what a multimillion pound budget would buy you?

Russian state conglomerate Rostec seeks bigger Megafon stake

Reuters - UK Focus

* State conglomerate is run by sanctioned Sergei Chemezov

* Sanctions against Chemezov not seen as impacting Rostec

* Rostec to buy Megafon (MCX: MFON.ME - news) shares from existing shareholders, market

* Aims to raise stake to 10 pct in 2-3 years

MOSCOW, June 3 (Reuters) - Russian state conglomerate Rostec, run by Sergei Chemezov who was hit by U.S. sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis, said it aims to increase its stake in mobile phone operator Megafon .

Rostec, whose interests encompass weapons, cars and metals, currently owns an indirect stake of more than 2 percent in Megafon. It plans to raise its holding to 5 percent by the end of the year and to 10 percent over the next two or three years, a spokesman said on Tuesday - but did not specify whether the stake would be direct or indirect.

ADVERTISEMENT

Chemezov has no stake in Rostec, which is 100 percent government-owned. Lawyers have said that in cases where individuals are sanctioned but not the companies they run, international businesses can still deal with the firms, although the situation could deter investors.

"Megafon is a rapidly growing high-tech company with a growing market capitalisation and a significant share of the Russian telecommunications market, which is interesting for Rostec," the spokesman said.

The conglomerate plans to buy shares from the market or existing shareholders - though not from the entities of Megafon's controlling shareholder Alisher Usmanov, he added.

Megafon is just over 50 percent owned by Usmanov, who has previously made clear he wants to keep a controlling stake. Nordic (SES: MR7.SI - news) telecom group TeliaSonera (Dusseldorf: TLS.DU - news) is the second-biggest investor with 25.2 percent. Megafon itself owns 7.6 percent through a subsidiary and CEO Ivan Tavrin has 2.5 percent.

Megafon declined to comment on the plans for the stake held by Megafon's subsidiary Megafon Investments. A spokeswoman for Tavrin said he did not plan to sell his shares to Rostec. TeliaSonera declined to comment. (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Additional reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Olof Swahnberg; Editing by Pravin Char)