Sistema Shyam mulls IPO; rings Mumbai ops

Sistema Shyam TeleServices (SSTL), which owns the new mobile brand MTS, today said it will soon start working on raising funds through Indian bourses for funding expansions.

"There is a requirement to look into this (raising fund through an IPO), but the current market situation does not allow us to be optimistic. Clearly this is one of the ways for raising money and we are very seriously looking into this option," SSTL President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Vsevolod Rozanov said here.

Rozanov was speaking to mediapersons after launching the company's mobile service in the crowded and highly competitive Mumbai circle, where SSTL would offer local calls at half a paisa per second in Mumbai, Maharashtra and Goa.

The CEO said the IPO may not hit the market in the next six months, but the company would start working on the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) in a few weeks from now.

"The next six months won't be the right time. I have initiated this (the IPO) mentally. We have not started the DRHP yet and will be doing it in the next few weeks. It's in the thinking process," Rozanov said.

Russian conglomerate Sistema holds 74 per cent stake in SSTL.