Megapolis, Russia's biggest tobacco distributor, is considering a London initial public offering (IPO) this autumn that could raise up to USD 1.5 billion (EUR 1.05 billion), reported Reuters on Wednesday.

Megapolis, which is the exclusive distributor for cigarette makers Japan Tobacco, Philip Morris and Imperial Tobacco in Russia with an estimated market share of just over 70 per cent of the wholesale cigarette market, plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to fund international expansion, two sources familiar with its plans told Reuters. The CIS and Eastern Europe would be targeted, in addition to Ukraine where it had already started to expand. (pi)