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Articles & publications
18.06.2010
Rostelecom to close a deal to acquire 25% stake in NVision Group by end of summer 2010RBC
Rostelecom intends to close a transaction aimed at acquiring a 25% stake in NVision Group by the end of summer 2010. This news was announced by to RBC by the general director of the company Anton Kolpakov on the sidelines of the International Economic Forum held recently in Saint Petersburg. “There is quite a large number of conditional terms here, but hopefully the deal can be wrapped up this summer”, Kolpakov pointed out. Earlier, the transaction was expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2010. As regards future plans to raise the stake in NVision Group, Mr. Kolpakov went on to note that so far this goal is not on the table. “I’m trying to be realistic”, he emphasized.
For the record, at the end of April 2010 the Board of Directors of Rostelecom approved a transaction for the acquisition of a 25% equity stake in NVision Group. While the exact amount of the transaction will be disclosed only at a later time, it is not expected to exceed $50 mln. According to the terms of the deal, depending on the financial results of the NVision Group, Rostelecom could be entitled at a later time both to raise its stake in the shareholder capital of Managing Company of NVision Group to 100%, and also to sell its stake back to the current owners of the NVision Group. At the end of May 2010, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) of the Russian Federation authorized Rostelecom to determine the conditions for the entrepreneurial activities of Managing Company of NVision Group.
NVision Group is a Russian system integrator and a supplier of IT solutions for commercial and state enterprises. The company engages in the construction of integrated information systems, information consulting, etc. Its turnover increased 2% in 2009 year-on-year and amounted to RUR 12.885 bln.
Rostelecom (Saint Petersburg) is Russia’s national DLD/ILD telecommunications operator. The company operates a digital and analog telecommunications network which spans a length of some 150,000 km throughout the Russian Federation. The company provides the bulk of DLD and ILD traffic in the country, and also ensures operations for land-based television and radio-broadcasting network channels, and holds a leadership position on the market of backbone Internet traffic transmission in Russia. Rostelecom’s largest shareholder is Svyazinvest, which owns 50.67% of its voting shares. Rostelecom’s net profit in the first quarter of 2010 according to Russian Accounting Standards decreased 48% to RUR 1.289 bln.
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