(Telecompaper) MegaFon has agreed to buy LTE operator Scartel, which operates as Yota, from its majority owner Garsdale at an equity value of USD 1.18 billion. Scartel has nationwide LTE spectrum consisting of 2x30 MHz in the 2.5-2.6 GHz band. Its LTE network already covers 27 percent of the population and has more than 648,000 subscribers. Garsdale also controls MegaFon, and the mobile operator already acts as a MVNO on the Scartel network. Garsdale, which is ultimately controlled by Alisher Usmanov, has 50 percent plus 100 shares in Megafon, while TeliaSonera has a 25.2 percent stake. The latter said it plans to support the takeover at the special shareholders meeting in September to approve the deal. Megafon said it expects significant synergies from the takeover, allowing it to strengthen its data network, accelerate the roll-out and lower the cost of 4G deployment. It will also take on up to USD 600 million in debt from Yota.