Russian mobile major MegaFon plans London IPO

Russia's second-largest mobile operator MegaFon said yesterday that that the company will proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) of its ordinary shares in Moscow and global depository receipts (GDRs) in London in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Although MegaFon did not disclose the size of the offering, according to some sources, the issue size is likely to be around 15-per cent worth approximately $2 billion, which is smaller than the earlier reported 20 per cent.

MegaFon CEO Ivan Tavrin said, ''This is the right time for our IPO, which will support a new stage in MegaFon's development.''

''We are now positioned to exploit the further growth potential of Russia's mobile market as it transitions from voice to high value data and services. We are already the largest player in the Russian mobile data market and were the first major operator to offer LTE/4G services,'' Tavrin further stated.

The IPO, which is one of the largest Russian offerings, will provide an opportunity for international investors to buy into a fast-growing, Russia-focused mobile operator. Russia is Europe's largest mobile telecommunications market worth over $25 billion with approximately 221 million customers. 

Moscow-based MegaFon is one of the 'big three' nationwide mobile operators along with Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Vimpelcom, having 2G and 3G licences across all of the Russian regions.