ER-Telecom secures green light to acquire Akado regional operations

Russian competition watchdog the Federal Antimonopoly Service has given a green light to ER-Telecom to acquire the Ekaterinburg and St Petersburg subsidiaries of Akado Group, according to local reports.

The FAS has approved ER-Telecom’s acquisition of Akado-Ekaterinburg and St Petersburg-based Neva Cable Television Network.

Moscow-based Akado has been trying to sell its regional assets for some time. The St Petersburg operation serves the city’s central district and Vasilevsky Island via its own network and has an estimated 60,000 subscribers in the city.

The Ekaterinburg operation is reported to have about 150,000 subscribers.

Estimates of the value of the St Petersburg operation vary between RUB500 million to RUB1 billion, while the Ekaterinburg operator is estimated to be worth in the region of RUB200 million, according to ComNews, citing local analysts.

In addition to its two regional Russian operations, Akado holds a 50% stake in Cosmos TV Belarus. Its main operation is in Moscow, where it owns the Komkor network.

Akado’s owner Renova is also reportedly in talks to sell the operator to Russian fixed-line market leader Rostelecom.