Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has approved the sale of a 4% stake in Channel One currently held by Roman Abramovich to National Media Group (NMG).
As a result, Abramovich will see his interest in Channel One reduced to 20%, which will comply with the levels of foreign ownership in media outlets permitted under Russian law.
As previously reported by Broadband TV News, Abramovich took out Israeli citizenship in May but has no intention of selling his entire stake in Channel One.
Channel One’s main shareholder is the Federal Agency for State Property Management (39%), while NMG will see its share increase from 25% to 29%.