The shareholders Russia’s CTC Media are set to approve the sale of a 75% stake in the company to UTH (YUTV), the holding group owned by Alisher Usmanov and Ivan Tavrin, for $200 million.
Quoting a source at CTC Media and two in the Russian media market, AKTR and Gazeta report that a deal now looks increasingly likely.
The possibility of a sale, as reported by Broadband TV News, was first made public earlier this month and confirmed by CTC Media.
Were it to happen, CTC Media, which currently list MTG as its largest shareholder, with a 37.9% stake in the company, would conform to new rules governing the permitted levels of foreign investment in Russian media companies that come into effect next year.
It is generally accepted that UTH would be buying CTC Media “on the cheap”, with the broadcaster having been valued at nearly $4.4 billion only two years ago.
They will also take over what is a successful business and have indicated they will not make many changes to the company.
