Russia's largest mobile operator MTS (Mobile TeleSystems) has resumed negotiations to sell its cell tower company.
News site Kommersant has heard various options from sources.
The great telecom tower sell-off
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One source said MTS could transfer the towers to its part-owner, investment firm Sistema PJSFC, with Sistema then selling the towers. Sistema owns 42.09 percent of MTS,
Alternatively, MTS could sell the towers to a consortium of investors including Sistema.
At the end of 2021, MTS had around 23,000 telecom towers, and it spun this tower business into Tower Infrastructure Company LLC in December last year.
MTS had initially planned to complete the creation of the tower company at the beginning of 2022 and sell it in the first quarter of 2022.
Kommersant reports that Ivan Tavrin's Kismet Group and Service-Telecom, in potential partnership with Gazprombank, are interested in buying the tower company.
