Bank Rossiya to acquire about 30% of Tele2 - paper
MOSCOW. June 24 (Interfax) - Bank Rossiya, whose largest shareholder is Yury Kovalchuk, has reached an agreement to acquire around 30% of telecoms operator Tele2 Russia's shares from VTB , the business daily Vedomosti reported, citing sources.
Sources at VTB confirmed this information to the newspaper, noting that 30% is just a point of reference and that the exact figure has yet to be determined.
Sources on the telecoms market previously told Interfax that the co-owners of Bank Rossiya might help flesh out a deal for VTB to buy Tele2, which closed in April. Vedomosti reported that Kovalchuk is a good friend of Cristina Stenbeck, who is the chairman of the investment board at Kinnevik, Tele2's main shareholder.
Vedomosti's sources offer varying versions of Bank Rossiya's participation in the transaction. According to one source, the bank is not the end recipient of the stake, but a mere middleman brought in to avoid paying Tele2 half the profit from the asset's resale. The mark-up for the first sale will be minimal, and the intermediary will sell the stake in Tele2 Russia to Russian national telecoms operator Rostelecom at the full price, the source said.
A source at VTB denied this report and said that Bank Rossiya is a strategic investor with "very serious intentions."
VTB acquired Tele2 Russia from Swedish holding Tele2 back in April, shelling out $2.4 billion in cash and assuming the operator's $1.15-billion debt. Immediately after the deal, the Russian bank said that it intended to sell a controlling stake in Tele2 Russia to a strategic investor this year.
Analysts have dubbed Rostelecom the most likely contender for the controlling stake. A Rostelecom-Tele2 alliance would mean the creation of a fourth national mobile operator in addition to Russia's big three. Market participants told Interfax that there was talk of a scheme to establish a joint venture with Tele2 Russia and Rostelecom's mobile assets.
At the end of last week, First Deputy Chairman of VTB Yury Solovyev told Interfax in an interview that the bank is not planning to sell its stake to Rostelecom.
VTB is currently at the negotiation stage with private investors, which it plans to attract within three to four months, Solovyev said.