Report: MegaFon officially confirms intention to divide Euroset

MOSCOW, Feb 13 (PRIME) -- Russian mobile operator MegaFon has confirmed its intention to split up handset retailer Euroset, which it owns on a parity basis with counterpart VimpelCom, and the matter may be tackled in 2017, business daily Vedomosti reported on its Web site on Monday, citing analysts of BCS and VTB Capital.

MegaFon, which met with investors and analysts on February 10, attributed the necessity of the move to a difficult financial state of Euroset, unable to exist independently, as one of participants of the meeting said.

According to the unified corporate register, a total debt of Euroset-Retail, a unit of the Euroset group, was slightly over than 10 billion rubles as of the end of 2015.

MegaFon and VimpelCom voiced the idea of dividing the common asset in 2016, because they find monobrand chains more effective.

(58.8457 rubles – U.S. $1)

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