OREANDA-NEWS. October 14, 2009. COMSTAR – United TeleSystems (JSC COMSTAR-UTS, LSE: CMST), the leading supplier of integrated telecommunication solutions in Russia and the CIS announces its acquisition of eight cable TV providers in some regions of Russia as part of its regional assets restructuring. All companies have been acquired from JIR Broadcast Inc., a 100% affiliate of COMSTAR-UTS.

JIR Broadcast Inc. joined COMSTAR-UTS as a part of STREAM-TV Group. Its acquisition was accomplished by end of 2008 (for further transaction details, please click here). Thus, an internal transaction has taken place, the result of which are eight affiliates of JIR Broadcast Inc. now directly owned by COMSTAR-UTS. This transaction is a part of the second stage regional assets restructuring to optimize COMSTAR-UTS Group ownership pattern.

The ultimate goal of restructuring is integration of all regional assets within CJSC COMSTAR-Regions, a single centre of COMSTAR-UTS Group regional consolidation.

COMSTAR-UTS have purchased the following companies from JIR Broadcast Inc.: ZAO MARK TV (90% of the registered capital, provides cable TV services in Izhevsk), ZAO TSN (100% of the registered capital, Nizhny Novgorod), ZAO INFOTEK (100% of the registered capital, Yekaterinburg), ZAO TV Maidan (100% of the registered capital, Rostov-on-Don), ZAO First Perm Internet Centre (100% of the registered capital, Perm), TRUNK (80% of the registered capital, Astrakhan), ZAO NPO Vidis (60% of the registered capital, Dzerzhinsk) and ZAO CHANNEL 7 (90% of the registered capital, Norilsk). 10% of MARK-TV, 20% of TRUNK, 40% of NPO Vidis and 10% of CHANNEL 7 are directly owned by CJSC COMSTAR-Regions.

In August 2009, COMSTAR-UTS completed the first stage of regional business restructuring by a merger of the seven largest affiliates based on the emerged regional assets consolidation centre of the Group – CJSC COMSTAR-Regions, a 100% affiliate of OJSC COMSTAR-UTS. CJSC COMSTAR-Regions is a result of seven largest 100% OJSC COMSTAR-UTS affiliates merger. According to the approved management structure within CJSC COMSTAR-Regions, branches have been incorporated in the Central, North-Western, Southern, Volga, Ural and Siberian federal districts with centres, in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, Yekaterinburg, and Tyumen, accordingly.