MTS, a leading mobile operator and telecom provider in Russia and the CIS, announced on Tuesday that its subsidiary MGTS has acquired a 100% stake in Tascom, a major provider of telecommunication services to corporate clients in Moscow and the Moscow region.
Tascom previously belonged to Bester Investments Limited – which itself is owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), its related funds, and certain other private investors.
The purchase price paid at the completion of the transaction amounted to $38.3 million, with an additional payment of $6.9 million deferred for 12 months and contingent upon fulfillment of certain requirements that were agreed upon in the deal. MGTS also assumed the net debt of Tascom in the amount of $9.7 million.
Tascom provides a wide array of telecommunication services to corporate clients, including virtual private networks (VPNs), local and long distance/international calling, broadband Internet, and WiFi access. The company owns an extensive fiber-optic network (1,100 km in Moscow and in the 50 towns of the Moscow region) and a wireless network that uses the pre-WiMax standard.
“This acquisition is in line with the our strategy of building an integrated operator,” said Alexander Popovskiy, MTS Vice President and COO and Chairman of Board at MGTS.
Among MTS’s most recent acquisitions is SkyNet, which provides Internet access as well as fixed line telephony services in St. Petersburg.
Source: MTS
