Russia based long distance telecommunications operator Rostelecom has acquired the remaining 50% stake of Sky Link, a mobile operator which provides high-speed mobile data and voice services from Svyazinvest.
Under the agreement, Mobitel, a subsidiary of Rostelecom, has swapped 1.91% of Rostelecom shares for Svyazinvest’s 50% stake in Sky Link for $291m.
Mobitel’s effective ownership in Sky Link now reaches to 100%, the company said.
Sky Link’s licences enable the telecom operator to provide services using CDMA-450 and UMTS-1900/2100 technologies in 65 regions, CDMA-450/2000 in 3 regions, GSM-1800 in 45 regions and GSM-900 in one region.
Under the Sky Link deal, Rostelecom holds 45.3%, while Mobitel will own 4.64% of Rostelecom ordinary shares and 12.6% of Rostelecom preference shares and Svyazinvest will increase its stake in Rostelecom to 45.3%.
Rostelecom president Alexander Provotorov said the consolidation of Sky Link’s assets marks an important landmark in its complex reorganisation process, which merges Svyazinvest with Rostelecom.
"The aim of this process is to eliminate any cross-ownership between the two companies, to simplify our shareholder structure and help attract interest from a broader range of investors," Provotorov said.
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Sky Link currently owns licences in 76 Russian regions, covering over 90% of the total Russian population, which includes Moscow, St. Petersburg and several other major Russian cities.
