Leading Russian Telecom group and device maker, MegaFon has announced it will acquire majority interest in Russia’s biggest internet group – Mail.Ru Group. The company has agreed to pay $740m (initial $640m on completion of the transaction plus an extra $100 million deferred for one year).
MegaFon will acquire 11.5 million Class A shares and 21.9 million ordinary shares from Mail.Ru Group , accounting for roughly 63.8% of the voting rights of the group. The shares (shares sold by New Media and Technology Investment LP – a subsidiary of USM Holdings, New Media Technologies Capital Partners Limited, and Ardoe Finance Limited. The economic interest acquired by MegaFon stands at 15.2%.
Subject to approval the regulators and MegaFon shareholders, the transaction is expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year (Q1 2017). Both companies are looking to take advantage of their various strengths to create synergies and collaborate to develop new products and services.
As part of the deal, the Mail.Ru will continue to be an independently listed company and insider sources confirmed there is no mandatory buyout offer to the other minority shareholders of the company. Other Mail.ru shareholders include South Africa’s Naspers Ltd. and China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd.
Source: Bloomberg
