Deals
MegaFon to Buy Mail.ru Stake for $740 Million From Usmanov
- Carrier set to gain control of 64% of web company’s votes
- Billionaire consolidating Russian tech assets into MegaFon
This article is for subscribers only.
Alisher Usmanov and his partners are set to pocket $740 million from moving a stake in internet company Mail.ru Group Ltd. to MegaFon PJSC, as the Russian billionaire consolidates his technology holdings into the wireless carrier.
MegaFon plans to buy 33.4 million shares, equal to an almost 64 percent voting stake in the web company, from Usmanov’s USM Holdings, according to a statement Friday. The price is $640 million on completion plus $100 million after one year, which MegaFon said implies a premium of about 24 percent on Thursday’s closing price.