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Moscow - MegaFon, the Russian wireless carrier controlled by billionaire Alisher Usmanov, said it is in talks with Mail.ru shareholders about buying a stake in the internet company.
Mail.ru is 28%-owned by Naspers and 7.4% by Tencent, according to its annual report. The phone carrier didn’t say which Mail.ru owners it’s holding talks with. Usmanov holds about 15% of the Russian social-networks and games operator, and controls its votes.
The current market speculation doesn’t refer to Naspers, the media company said Wednesday.
In a statement Wednesday, MegaFon said it would be “natural partners” with Mail.ru as the telecommunications and internet-service markets converge.
"There is no certainty that MegaFon will become a shareholder of Mail.ru," Moscow-based MegaFon said in a statement ON Wednesday. If an agreement is reached, the two companies would “continue operating as separate entities on an arms-length basis.”
"MegaFon may buy Usmanov’s stake in Mail.ru to create synergies between the communications and internet businesses," Alexander Vengranovich, an analyst at Otkritie Capital, said by phone. "This would also help Usmanov’s USM to cash out its investment in Mail.ru, which was difficult to do via dividends."
Shares of Mail.ru advanced 2.7% to $16.91 in London on Wednesday, giving the company a market capitalisation of $3.7bn. MegaFon declined 0.6% to $8.60 for a market value of $5.3bn.
Russian online news service Rambler News reported earlier on Wednesday that MegaFon studied buying shares in Mail.ru, while the carrier’s Swedish co-owner Telia AB opposed this idea. Telia representatives couldn’t be reached for comment outside of business hours.
MegaFon also said it has been discussing collaboration with Mail.ru to jointly develop products for mobile subscribers and internet users. "Market dynamics and advances in technology have created favorable conditions for greater cooperation between telecom providers and digital media companies," the company said in the statement.
