Russian services conglomerate Sistema is in discussions to sell its stake in long-distance provider Multiregional TransitTelecom (MTT). Kirill Semenov, a spokesman for Sistema, said: “We are in talks to sell our stake, 50 percent of voting shares, in MTT”.
The state anti-monopoly service said on Tuesday Russian telecom company Synterra had filed for permission to buy 100 percent of MTT, Synterra however, declined to comment. MTT says it has 6.8 percent of the Russian market for domestic and international long-distance phone calls. Its revenues exceeded USD 1 billion in 2007.
In April, Russian media reported that Sistema’s board of directors had approved selling 50 percent of MTT to Synterra for around USD 400 million.
The remaining 50 percent of MTT is owned by Gamma Capital, which Danish lawyer Jeffrey Galmond owns. As we recently reported, Galmond has decided to sell off all his Russian telecom assets, including his stake in Russia’s No.3 mobile carrier, MegaFon.