Billionaire Vladimir Lisin’s Independent Transport Company, the holder of 75 percent shares in rail cargo operator Freight One, has filed a petition to repurchase the remaining blocking stake in the company from state monopoly Russian Railways, the watchdog said on Thursday.
“The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service is currently examining a petition from Independent Transport Company on acquiring 21,413,108,541 voting shares of Freight One, which comprises 25 percent minus two shares of the voting stock,” the regulator said in a statement.
“The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has made a decision to extend the term of examining the petition for two months to gain additional information required for decision-making,” the FAS said.
Independent Transport Company bought 75 percent minus two shares in Freight One Co. from Russian Railways at an auction in late 2011 for 125.5 billion rubles ($4.2 billion).
Russian Railways CEO Vladimir Yakunin said in spring Lisin had offered to repurchase the remaining blocking stake from the rail monopoly, adding he supported this offer.
Lisin, the owner of Novolipetsk Steel firm, ranks second in the 2012 Forbes List of Russia’s Richest Businessmen with a fortune of $15.9 billion.