Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Alisher Usmanov bought the Russian art collected by the late cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and his wife in a private transaction for more than the top valuation of $40 million, said Sotheby's.

Usmanov will take the collection to Russia, said Sotheby's spokesman Matthew Weigman in an interview. The deal was struck in negotiations over the weekend, he said.

Usmanov is the chief executive officer of Gazprominvestholding OOO, controls the mining company ZAO Metalloinvest, and has a stake in London's Arsenal soccer team, according to Bloomberg data.

He bought the collection ``to return it to the country to whose art it belongs, Russia,'' Usmanov said today on the state- run Vesti-24 television station. The billionaire said he would decide if he should give the art to the state or keep it in a private collection after consulting advisers.

The auction house had planned to sell about 450 lots from the collection in London on Sept. 18-19, after more than doubling the number of items to meet demand. The sale, valued at as much as $40 million, was canceled.

Rostropovich, who died on April 27 at the age of 80, built the collection with soprano Galina Vishnevskaya, who survives him. The sale is of only a portion of their holdings.

Several collectors expressed interest in the collection, said Sotheby's Weigman. Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev held discussions with the auction house though they couldn't agree on the price, said his cultural affairs coordinator, Ludmilla Korsik. Andrei Ruzhnikov of the Aurora Fine Art Investments Fund said he might have bought a few items for the Russian art fund had the sale gone ahead.

To contact the reporters on this story: Linda Sandler in London at lsandler@bloomberg.net; Patrick Henry in Moscow at phenry8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 17, 2007 11:08 EDT