Azernews.Az

MegaFon MGFON.UL, Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator, will start pre-marketing for its London initial public offering on Tuesday, several financial market sources said, Reuters reported.

It is expected to make a statement announcing the IPO in the coming days, a separate source familiar with the situation said.

The IPO will give investors the chance to buy into a Russian telecoms company that is outpacing its peers in a growing home market, but unlike rivals is shielded from tricky overseas operations and complex corporate disputes.

The cut-throat market is dominated by three players, MTS (MBT.N), MegaFon and Vimpelcom (VIP.N), which together control 80 percent of the overall pie in Russia.

MegaFon, in which Russia's richest man Alisher Usmanov took control in April, received regulatory approval in September to list 123.38 million shares, or 19.9 percent of the total, in London.

Analysts have estimated that the IPO could raise $3 billion, making it the biggest in London since trader Glencore's (GLEN.L) $10 billion IPO in May 2011 and the largest Russian market float since Rusal (0486.HK) raised $2.2 billion in Hong Kong in 2010.

It is unclear whether MegaFon is still aiming to raise that amount. The company was expected to meet with analysts on Tuesday, a separate source familiar with the matter said.

MegaFon declined comment.