Mobile phone company MegaFon, preparing for a stock market listing in London, said Monday that it could pay up to $1.33 billion to buy half the country's leading cell phone retailer, Yevroset.
MegaFon rival VimpelCom, Russia's third-largest mobile firm, will hold the other 50 percent stake in Yevroset.
Under the deal, MegaFon plans to buy 25 percent of Yevroset for up to $590 million from tycoon Alexander Mamut.
At the same time, MegaFon's main shareholder, Alisher Usmanov's Garsdale company, will buy another 25 percent from Mamut for an unspecified sum.
Garsdale will later sell that stake to MegaFon, with the latter ending up paying up to $1.33 billion for the 50 percent stake.
(Reuters)
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