Reuters: Mergers News: MegaFon stake may change hands for $5 bln -paper

Reuters: Mergers News Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

MegaFon stake may change hands for $5 bln -paper Apr 2nd 2012, 14:23 MOSCOW, April 2 | Mon Apr 2, 2012 10:23am EDT MOSCOW, April 2 (Reuters) - Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman may sell his 25.1 percent stake in MegaFon, Russia's second-biggest wireless operator, to tycoon Alisher Usmanov for about $5 billion, according to Russian newspaper RBC daily. Usmanov, a stakeholder in north London football club Arsenal, already owns 31.13 percent of MegaFon through his AF Telecom holding company, according to the company's website. "By buying out Mikhail Fridman's stake, Alisher Usmanov would be able to consolidate a controlling stake at MegaFon," wrote analyst Dalibor Vavruska at Citi. Fridman owns his stake through his Alfa Group which also has a 25 percent voting stake in Russia's third-biggest mobile phone operator Vimpelcom. Privately-owned MegaFon is second to No. 1 wireless operator MTS, and is part-owned by Nordic telecoms firm TeliaSonera. MegaFon was not available for comment. Altimo, the telecoms unit of Alfa Group, and Usmanov's spokesman both declined to comment.

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