RUSSIAN mobile operator Megafon has agreed to pay US$740 million to buy a controlling stake in Internet group Mail.ru from billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who is an investor in both companies.

    Megafon said it hoped the deal would provide mobile phone users access to a wide range of content through Mail.ru platforms while returning Megafon “to sustainable growth.” Megafon is Russia’s second-biggest mobile company.

    Megafon and Russian rivals have seen their sales growth fall close to zero in a saturated market and are looking at Internet-based partnerships as they seek to move away from a traditional telecom business structure.

    Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Megafon would buy a 63.8 percent voting stake in Mail.ru from Usmanov, paying US$640 million on completion of the deal and a further US$100 million a year later.

    The deal, which suggests a 24 percent premium to the Mail.ru share price as of Dec. 22, does not require Megafon to make a mandatory buyout offer to Mail.ru minority shareholders, Megafon said in a statement.

    Mail.ru, which owns the three largest Russian-language social networks and an online games business, also has South Africa’s Naspers and China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. among its shareholders.

    The deal is expected to be funded by cash and ruble-denominated debt and Megafon’s ability to pay dividends will not be affected, it said.

    Megafon said it expected to achieve “significant synergies for both companies” through the deal. Among other initiatives, it will see the companies launch a special VKmobile offering for users of VK social network, Russia’s largest.

    If approved by shareholders and regulators, the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year.

    (SD-Agencies)