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2023: Usmanov's holding bought out the Armory business center from MegaFon
The holding USM Alisher Usmanova bought from the "" MegaFon business center To Moscow in for 4.2 billion. rubles The telecommunication operator announced this in its reports published in August 2023.
As Interfax writes with reference to MegaFon's materials, the company entered into an agreement with YuSeM Telecom LLC (the structure of the USM holding, which owns Megafon) to sell its 50% stake in the holding company, which owns 100% of Garden Ring JSC, which owned the Ruzheiny business center. Also in March 2023, MegaFon ceded to YuSeM Telecom LLC the right to claim under loan agreements with Garden Ring JSC in the amount of 6.87 billion rubles with a maturity of September 30, 2023, the news agency reports.
In addition, the Megafon group registered OOO Oruzheiny 41, to which in May-June 2023, in the course of a number of transactions, the Oruzheiny business center, which was owned by Garden Ring JSC, was transferred under the joint control of Sberbank and YuSeM Telecom, the telecom operator said in a report. As a result of these transactions, the Megafon group recognized a loss on disposal of investments in the joint venture in the amount of 496 million rubles.
Earlier, Vedomosti wrote that Megafon could transfer its headquarters to Moscow City (to the Empire tower) from the Armory business center. The transfer of Megafon's headquarters to Moscow City is connected with the Central Bank's plans to buy the Armory business center, four consultants who worked with the negotiating parties explained to the newspaper. The purchase of a new headquarters could cost Megafon 19-20 billion rubles, calculated Colliers International partner Stanislav Bibik. Elena Denisova, senior director of the CBRE office space department, estimates the rental rate for premises without decoration in the second stage of Imperia at 26,000-28,000 rubles. for 1 sq. m per year. In this case, the expenses of the mobile operator will amount to 1.3-1.4 billion rubles a year.[1]
2015: MegaFon bought the owner of an office building in the center of Moscow
In accordance with the resolution adopted by the Company's Board of Directors on July 29, 2015, MegaFon completed in October 2015 the acquisition of 49.999% of the share capital of Glanbury Investments Ltd, the owner of the closed joint stock company Garden Ring, which owns and manages a class A office building at 41 Ruzheiny Lane (hereinafter referred to as the "Building in Ruzheiny Lane") in central Moscow.
Under the terms of the transaction, MegaFon will pay about 282 million for the acquired stake in Glanbury, dollars as well as for the further operation of the building, will sign an agreement on the creation of a joint venture with Sberbank Investments Limited, a subsidiary of PJSC Sberbank, Sberbank which also owns 49.999% of Glanbury's share capital, and Woodsworth Investments Limited, an independent Russian developer that owns the remaining 0.002% of Glanbury's shares.
On October 9, 2015, MegaFon made a payment to the seller in the amount of about $202 million, the remaining part of the amount will be paid in 1 year.
MegaFon plans to place its new headquarters in a building in Ruzheiny Lane, in connection with which the Company has signed a long-term lease agreement with Garden Ring CJSC for a period of 10 years. The lease agreement was concluded on much more favorable terms than those that the authorities pledged to fulfill in accordance with the 2012 agreement, which will allow MegaFon to save up to $98 million on lease payments over the next ten years. The amount of lease payments is fixed in Russian rubles, which excludes foreign exchange risks in this lease.
Renting a building in Oruzheiny Lane will enable MegaFon to consolidate up to 4,000 employees in one office, who currently work in six buildings in different parts of Moscow. The opening of a new head office in the city center will reduce overhead and improve interaction between various divisions of the Company.
The total leased area in the building in Armory Lane is over 115,000 m ². Along with MegaFon, Sberbank will become another anchor tenant of the business center. Its participation will ensure the financial stability of the project and increase the attractiveness of the building as a reliable long-term investment in real estate.
Gevork Vermishyan, Chief Financial Officer of MegaFon, commented: "This transaction provides MegaFon with a unique opportunity for the Company to concentrate its operations on a single site, thereby increasing the efficiency of interaction between its divisions. Further, the conclusion of this transaction will allow MegaFon to significantly reduce rental costs and reduce currency risks by fixing lease payments in rubles, which corresponds to our conservative approach to financial management. We invested in the real estate market at its "day" and acquired ownership of the building, in which two companies with high creditworthiness will be tenants. We are also pleased to establish strong partnerships with Sberbank, which is one of our main creditors and with which we have maintained successful business relations over the years. "