MTS EYES ARMENIA’S K-TELECOM
Moscow Times
Reuters
Aug 22 2007
Russia
The country’s top cellular operator, Mobile TeleSystems, is in talks
to buy Armenia’s leading mobile network provider, K-Telecom, a source
familiar with the situation said Tuesday.
"The talks are under way, but they are far from being concluded,"
the source said.
Services conglomerate Sistema, which holds a controlling stake in
MTS, confirmed that MTS was interested in mobile assets in the former
Soviet states.
"We are currently in talks with several companies working on the
ex-Soviet ground. K-Telecom is interesting to us as one of the
options," Sistema spokesman Kirill Semenov said.
Vedomosti quoted sector analysts as saying the value of K-Telecom,
which currently has over 1 million subscribers, could reach up to
$600 million.
"Although the deal is only modest in size [about 1.3 percent of MTS’s
existing subscriber base] and value, it makes every sense from a
strategic standpoint," Deutsche UFG analysts wrote in a note.
The country’s leading mobile providers are in fierce competition
to expand into post-Soviet countries where fewer people own mobile
phones and the markets still have a potential to grow.
Vedomosti said mobile penetration in Armenia, a country of 3.2 million
people, is about 50 percent, while penetration in Russia already tops
110 percent.
"We believe the deal is positive for MTS, which has lagged behind
VimpelCom in expanding its footprint in the CIS," Aton brokerage said
in note.