Russian private investment conglomerate AFK Sistema put in a $1.5bn bid to acquire the remaining assets of Indian Reliance Communications (RCom), Vedomosti daily said on March 26 citing Indian The Economic Times, as it resumes investing after a corporate war with state owned oil company Rosneft ended. 

A separate report showed that Sistema is also planning to acquire 51% in a textile business in the Vologda region, while a sale in the children's' goods retailer Detsky Mir is also on the agenda. 

The revival of investment activity from Sistema comes after a damaging legal battle with state oil company Rosneft and its subsidiary Bashneft, that was previously nationalised and re-sold to state-owned oil major Rosneft by the state.

In March Sistema paid the last instalment of a RUB100bn ($1.76bn) to Bashneft in an out of court settlement that ended its corporate war with Rosneft.

Now Sistema is eyeing RCom's international and data storage assets for $1.2bn, in addition to $300mn debt by the Indian telecom company to Sistema. Unnamed sources estimated the value of the assets at about $2bn, Vedomosti reported, while noting that Sistema could seek to consolidate a 100% stake in the company, of which it currently controls 10% through a telecom subsidiary SSTL.

As for domestic Vologda Textile investment, it reiterates Sistema's previously stated interest in light manufacturing segments, and in particular the market for uniforms and working gear, now mainly imported from China.

In the meantime the Russian Fund for Direct Investment (RDIF) still sees the possibility for an SPO of Detsky Mir children’s' goods retailer or an anchor investor deal in 2018, the head of the RDIF Kirill Dmitriev told the press as cited by Reuters on March 27.

The first attempt at an SPO of Detsky Mir was sabotaged by a court ruling initiated by Rosneft in December 2017. Sistema controls 52% in retailer and previously said it will make another attempt to SPO Detsky Mir in March, but this was also called off.