Usmanov plans new co to own MegaFon, Scartel: paper

MOSCOW | Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:59am EDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov is in talks to set up a holding company to own his stake in MegaFon MGFON.UL and next-generation telecoms operator Scartel, the head of his Telecominvest holding was quoted on Wednesday as saying.

Usmanov secured majority control in MegaFon, Russia's No.2 mobile phone operator, following a Tuesday deal that saw Mikhail Fridman's Alfa-Group exit and Nordic telecoms operator TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST) cut its stake.

"We are in talks with Scartel shareholders about combining our assets in one holding company which will own shares in both MegaFon and Scartel," Ivan Streshinsky, chief executive officer of Telecominvest, told the Kommersant daily in an interview.

"Usmanov will have more than 80 percent in the holding company which will own 100 percent of Scartel shares and more than 50 percent of MegaFon shares."

Streshinsky said Scartel would not own any shares in MegaFon, adding he hoped the deal would be closed soon.

Scartel, in which state conglomerate Russian Technologies owns a 25.1 percent stake, has 4G frequencies in all Russian regions and has already started to provide services using the LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology under the Yota brand.

Fund Telconet Capital, co-owned by businessman Sergei Adoniev, has the remaining 74.9 percent.

Sergei Chemezov, the head of Russian Technologies which also has a stake in Russia's top carmaker AvtoVAZ (AVAZ.MM), confirmed earlier this month that it was in talks with a number of possible investors in Scartel, including Usmanov.

MegaFon also started to provide 4G services under its brand using Scartel's infrastructure earlier this month as per its MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) agreement with Scartel.

State-controlled Rostelecom (RTKM.MM) signed a similar agreement with Scartel earlier in April.

Streshinsky told Kommersant he hoped the other two big Russian wireless carriers - MTS (MBT.N) and Vimpelcom - (VIP.N) would be interested in entering MVNO agreements with Scartel.

Usmanov's AF Telecom owns 50 percent plus one share in MegaFon directly and through Telecominvest, TeliaSonera has 35.6 percent and MegaFon holds 14.4 percent of its shares as a treasury stock.

MegaFon plans to hold an initial public offering of up to 20 percent on the London Stock Exchange later this year, in which TeliaSonera and MegaFon will contribute stakes of up to 10.6 percent and 9.4 percent respectively.

(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova, Editing by Douglas Busvine and Helen Massy-Beresford)