Comstar-UTS (merged with MTS #1327)

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Comstar Telecommunications operates a fully digital citywide fiber-optic telecommunications network in Moscow. The company obtained a license from the Ministry of Telecommunications for local, national and international telephone services in Moscow in 1992. The company was founded in 1989 as a Russian-British Limited Liability Partnerhip by the Moscow City Telephone Network –MGTS (50%), and the GPT Limited (50%)- later kown as Marconi Communications. Marconi Telecommunications built Comstar’s network which started its commercial operations in Moscow in 1992 under the name TONE. It began providing ISDN services in 1994 and dial-up Internet access services in 1996. Comstar operated in Moscow by 1998 and planned to expand its services to St. Petersburg and Krasnodar regions. It obtained a credit of US$75 million from the UK government in 1995. The company invested US$65 million in 1998 and US$5 million in 1999. In 2000, Metromedia International Group acquired the 50% stake in Comstar for US$ 60 million. In April 2003 Metromedia International Group reached an agreement with Adamant Advisory Services to exchange some of its Russian interests (including 50% stake in Comstar) for its own bonds that Adamant acquired in late 2002. In December 2003 Russian financial-industrial group AFK Sistema finalized the purchase of 50% stake in Comstar From Adamant Advisory Services for US$ 35 million. In 2003 AFK Sistema and Moscow City Telephone Network (MGTS) shareholders made the decision to unite the three alternative fixed-line operators - ZAO Comstar, MTU-Inform and Telmos companies under the brand name Comstar-United TeleSystems with a Comstar being a central in consolidation. The consolodation was completed in May 2004 when COMSTAR, MTU-Inform and Telmos merged. The main shareholder in COMSTAR – United TeleSystems was (AFK) Sistema Joint Stock Company Financial Corporation with 51%. Some 35% of the shares were floated on the Moscow exchange and MGTS held the remaining 14%. With the sale of Sistema’s 50.91% stake in Comstar to Mobile TeleSystems(“MTS”) in October 2009, MTS’s stake in Comstar–UTS increased to 61.97% in December 2009. As of that date, the remaining shares were held by MGTS (2.75%) and others (35.28%). On 1 April 2011, MTS completed its merger with Comstar-UTS, which then became a fully-owned subsidiary of MTS. A total of 22,483,791 shares representing a total of 5.38% of share capital was repurchased at a price of RUB212.85. http://www.comstar-uts.com/ru/