East-West Digital News 11 July 2012
Having received the green light from the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) last month, Megafon, a leading Russian mobile operator, and Scartel, the WiMAX provider switching to LTE and operating under the Yota brand, are to become part of the same holding.
The news, which Russian business daily Vedomosti reported yesterday from a source close to both companies, should be announced officially in the forthcoming days.
Garsdale Services, a company registered in the Virgin Islands, will own 50% plus one share of Megafon and 100% of Scartel. Alisher Usmanov, a Kremlin-friendly oligarch who is also a shareholder of the Russian Internet conglomerate Mail.ru Group and the global Internet investment fund DST, will own 82% of the holding. The remaining 18% will be shared equally between Russian entrepreneur Sergey Adoniev and Rostechnologii, a major IT corporation involved in the defense industry.