MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russian conglomerate Alfa Group is in talks with Turkey's financial-industrial Koc Holding to buy a controlling stake in supermarket chain Migros for an undisclosed sum, a Russian banking source said.
The Turkish holding controls 51% in Migros Turk Ticaret A.S., which owns the Migros supermarket chain. Koc holding also owns the network of Ramstore supermarkets in Russia. Migros Turk, founded in 1954, has a total of 961 supermarkets in Turkey and other countries.
Alfa Group, founded by Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Peter Aven, has substantial interests in the supermarket business, with stakes in Russian supermarket chains Perekryostok and Pyatyorochka. The group also has major assets in oil and gas (TNK-BP), telecommunications (Vimpelcom), and investment banking (Alfa Bank).
Last week, Sabanci Holding, the second largest industrial and financial conglomerate in Turkey after Koc, said it wanted to purchase Migros.
