(For other news from Reuters Russian and Eastern EuropeInvestment Summit, click on http://www.reuters.com/finance/summits)
* Says subsidiary buys 24.4pct stake in Regal
* Doesn't rule out investing more in company (Adds quotes, comments on coal investments)
By Megan Davies and Olga Sichkar
MOSCOW, Sept 23 (Reuters) - A1, an investment vehicle ofRussian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, told Reuters on Monday ithad acquired a 24.4 percent stake in Regal Petroleum,which produces gas and gas condensate in Ukraine.
News of the deal sent Regal's shares sharply higher inLondon and they closed up 10.6 percent on the session.
"We are ready to say today that we have acquired 24.4percent (in Regal Petroleum). The buyer is one of A1'ssubsidiaries, and the seller is CIS Natural Resources," A1President Mikhail Khabarov told the Reuters Russia InvestmentSummit.
Khabarov declined to disclose financial details of the deal,but said Regal Petroleum's revenues stood at 25.3 million pounds($40.5 million) in 2012.
"We do not rule out that we may invest more in this company.We believe it has potential to increase its marketcapitalisation and think that we can make the management moreefficient in the interests of all shareholders," he said.
A1 is a unit of Fridman's Alfa Group and its investmentportfolio ranges from car dealerships to cinemas to real estate.
It is also known for investing in companies that struggle topay debts or are embroiled in corporate disputes, selling themon relatively quickly after resolving the standoff.
However Khabarov, who has a seat on Alfa-Group's supervisoryboard, said he saw long-term potential in Russian coal assetZarechnaya, part of an industry that has seen prices tumble over60 percent since 2011.
A1 represents a businessman who claims a 50 percent stake inZarechnaya, a coal company in western Siberia's Kuznetsk Basin,or Kuzbass, one of Russia's biggest coal deposits.
"In fact we've got not just an asset but an option(exercisable when) this market grows," he said, citing themine's efficiency as an advantage over the small andmedium-sized coal firms that he sees consolidating in a fewyears.
"Most likely, we will not sell it (Zarechnaya) immediately.It would be more interesting to use it as a basis forconsolidation in the sector and creation of a major player withannual production of 30 million tonnes. Possibly, with apartner."
He also named metals, transport and infrastructure aspotentially attractive areas for investment thanks to theircheap valuations but cautioned that a quick profit was unlikely.
"Ferrous, non-ferrous metals, coal - they are all in a verydifficult situation... All these sectors are at the bottom andno-one can say when they will exit this part of the cycle." ($1 = 0.6250 British pounds) (Reporting by Olga Sichkar, Megan Davies, Alessandra Prentice,Sveta Burmistrova and Maria Kiselyova; writing by MariaKiselyova and Alessandra Prentice)
