MTS, TeliaSonera go on shopping sprees

Russian investment house Sistema said Tuesday that it has sold its 50.91 per cent stake in leading Moscow fixed line broadband provider Comstar UTS to Mobile TeleSystems (MTS).

MTS, Russia’s number one mobile operator, will pay RUB39.15bn ($1.32bn) for the stake, with 35 per cent remaining as a free float and 14 per cent held by Moscow-based telephone company MGTS.

Comstar is Moscow’s leading ADSL broadband service provider, providing voice, data, internet, and pay TV, but the firm has a fixed WiMAX strategy too.

Sistema is also the controlling shareholder in MTS, owning 52.8 per cent of the operator.

Meanwhile, across the Gulf of Bothnia, Nordic carrier TeliaSonera has taken control of Lithuanian service provider Teo, after increasing its ownership to 68.08 per cent. As it seeks to increase ownership in what it describes as ‘core holdings’, the carrier has also boosted its holding in Estonian provider Eesti Telekom to 97.58 per cent.

The Nordic operator will now initiate a squeeze out action, to buy out remaining minority shareholders in Eesti.