Major change for Russia’s Sistema

Russia’s Sistema Mass Media (SMM) will be transformed into a private equity fund and change its name in early 2016.

Quoted by Vedomosti and AKTR, its president Gulnara Khasianova said that Alexey Katkov would head the fund, with her being on the board of directors and participating in the management.

Significantly, the new fund will invest exclusively in technology projects. Moreover, it will dispose of SMM’s media assets.

These include Stream, which controls nine non-terrestrial pay-TV channels, and satellite TV operator CTV, both of which, says one source, have already been sold to MTS.

SMM is one of the longest established media companies in Russia, having been formed in the early 1990s.

MTS sole bidder for DTH on ABS-2 over Russia

Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (ROSKOMNADZOR) has said that it has received only one application to run a direct-to-home (DTH) television service on the ABS-2 satellite launched in February this year.

The single bidder was Sistema, Russia’s largest publicly listed holding company, applying through its affiliate CTV – a holder of the required broadcasting licence. Assuming that there are no issues with the application, the company will be declared the winner at the end of July. According to RBC Daily, the service will be operated by Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (MTS), another company controlled by Sistema.

ABS-2, located at at 75°E, has a footprint covering almost the entirety of Russian territory.

Russian Sistema eyes Telefónica CZ

Russia’s Sistema is looking at a number of possible acquisitions including Telefónica Czech Republic.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Sistema (MTS) owner Vladimir Yevtushenko said that he is considering targets in various markets and doesn’t have any proposals pending.

He is also analysing growth opportunities in Russia, amongst them the acquisition of Tele2Russia, and in India, where his company already owns wireless operations.

Quoted by Kommersant, Sistema spokesman Oleg Gudin confirmed that the company is discussing the possibility of acquiring Telefónica Czech Republic, though no decision had yet been taken.

Telefónica Czech Republic’s capitalization value is currently around $4.7 billion (€3.5 billion).