Deutsche Telekom's sale of stake in MTS to have negative impact

The Deutsche Telekom's possible sale of its block of shares in the leading Russian mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) will have a negative impact on MTS shares, Nadezhda Golubeva, an analyst at Aton Capital, noted in an interview with RBC. She commented on the statement of Sistema corporation head Vladimir Yevtushenkov who had announced that the corporation was holding negotiations to buy a large stake in MTS. The seller of the stake was not disclosed, however, most likely it will be one of the two large shareholders of MTS, i.e. Deutsche Telekom. Earlier, it announced plans to sell several assets in eastern Europe, including a stake in MTS.

According to the Aton expert, in the event Deustche Telekom sells its whole block in MTS to Sistema, the withdrawal of a large foreign investor from the list of MTS strategic partners will lead to a fall in prices for MTS shares. However, in the event Deustche Telekom retains a blocking stake, Sistem can acquire a 15-percent block worth $570m.

Sistema owns a 40.4-percent stake in MTS, a 40.1-percent block belongs to Deutsche Telekom, 1.5 percent is owned by VAST, another 17.3 percent are traded on the stock market and 0.7 percent in MTS belongs to the company's management. Mobile TeleSystems is the leading Russian mobile operator. It offers services to more than 6m subscribers.

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