Billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. media holding is slated to sell its Russian radio stations to Senator Vitaly Bogdanov, the company said.
News Corp. and Bogdanov reached agreement on the sale of Russian radio stations Nashe Radio, with branches in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Best FM and Ultra, the company said in a statement released Friday. Under the terms of the agreement, Bogdanov will acquire 100 percent of each station.
Bogdanov, a senator from the Kursk region, sold a 39 percent stake in Russian Media Group two years ago. Last winter, he purchased Moya Semya and 95.2 FM. The cost of the deal has not been disclosed.
Last fall, News Corp. began trying to unload its radio assets, which were then valued at $16 million, and Vladimir Potanin's Prof-Media and AF Media Holding, owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov, were courted as potential buyers.
In 2008, News Corp. announced its intention to unload all of its Russian assets, which include News Outdoor, the biggest outdoor advertiser in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Murdoch pointed to the investment climate in Russia, saying, "The more successful we become, the more vulnerable we'll be to have it stolen from us, so we're going to sell."
JCDecaux, Europe's largest outdoor advertising group, said it was planning to buy News Outdoor in October 2008, but the deal was scrapped when the country was hit by the deepening recession.
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