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Russian business magnate Alishar Usmanov makes bid to buy CTC

By Jared M. Feldschreiber
Russian broadcaster CTC Media said it received a $200 million offer for 75 percent of its operating assets in Russia and Kazakhstan from UTH Russia, which is part-owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov (seen here). Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons
Russian broadcaster CTC Media said it received a $200 million offer for 75 percent of its operating assets in Russia and Kazakhstan from UTH Russia, which is part-owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov (seen here). Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons

MOSCOW, July 6 (UPI) -- Russian broadcaster CTC Media said Monday it had received a $200 million offer for 75 percent of its operating assets in Russia and Kazakhstan from UTH Russia, which is part-owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Russia and Kazakhstan's CTC Media, in which Sweden's Modern Times Group approximately owns a 38 percent stake, has been looking for a buyer for months to comply with a new Russian law which has limited foreign ownership in media companies to 20 percent beginning January 1, 2016.

Ivan Tavrin's company M1, which includes Disney Russia, owns the other 50 percent of UTH.

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"The Company has received a formal, non-binding offer from UTH Russia, a privately held Russian commercial television broadcasting group, for the purchase of a 75% interest in the Company's Russian (and Kazakh) business operations," CTC Media distributed in a press release. Usmanov, who has been cited as Russia's fifth wealthiest man, is also a leading shareholder in the nation's Internet Group, Mail.ru. All of CTC Media TV channels are entertainment and do not impact any news.

President Vladimir Putin signed a media law in October 2014 to control foreign media companies. At the time, Kremlin's critics said it was a measure to counter an "information war" with the U.S. and Europe, and a move to curtail freedom of information. Russia has said it is a necessary security measure to protect against spying.

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"The discussions with UTH are at a relatively early stage and there can be no assurance that the Special Committee will be successful in agreeing definitive documentation with UTH, or that such transaction will ultimately close," the CTC press statement also read. "The transaction would be subject to customary closing conditions, including clearance from the Russian Federal Anti-monopoly Service."

[CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated Usmanov was "part owner of CTC Media, which made the bid." He is part owner of UTH Russia, which made the bid.]

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