Third graph of release dated Oct 17, 2006, should read: The selling shareholders have agreed to a 30-day lock-up period with respect to their remaining holdings. (sted The selling shareholders have agreed to a 90-day lock-up period with respect to their remaining holdings.). All other details remain unchanged; the full corrected release follows.
SISTEMA ANNOUNCES SALE OF COMPANY STOCK BY MINORITY HOLDERS
Sistema (LSE: SSA), the largest private sector consumer services company in Russia and the CIS, announced today that a number of certain minority shareholders of the company have entered into an agreement with Credit Suisse for the sale of their shares of Sistema, constituting approximately 1.9% of the total number of shares outstanding. Selling shareholders include certain directors and officers of Sistema.
Sistema, through one of its subsidiaries, subscribed to a total of 167,131 ordinary shares at the offer price, which constitute 1.73% of the offered stock. The total subscription was in the amount of approximately US$ 207 million. Sistema plans to establish a share option programme for the top management of the company. The acquired shares are intended for the funding of this programme and may also be used in connection with certain future acquisition activity.
The selling shareholders have agreed to a 30-day lock-up period with respect to their remaining holdings.
For further information, please visit www.sistema.com.
Sistema is the largest private sector consumer services company in Russia and the CIS, with over 65 million customers. Sistema develops and manages market-leading businesses in selected service-based industries, including telecommunications, technology, insurance, banking, real estate, retail and media. Founded in 1993, the company reported revenues of US$4.6 billion for the first half of year 2006, and total assets of US$ 17.3 billion as at June 30, 2006. Sistema's shares are listed under the symbol "SSA" on the London Stock Exchange, under the symbol "AFKS" on the Russian Trading System (RTS), and under the symbol "SIST" on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MSE).
Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Sistema. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as "expect,""believe," "anticipate,""estimate," "intend,""will," "could,""may" or "might" the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, general economic conditions, our competitive environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapid technological and market change in our industries, as well as many other risks specifically related to Sistema and its operations.