Pharmacy 36.6 soars on report fund may buy stake

* Report suggests Marshall Capital may buy over 25 pct

* Shares jump as much as 40 pct

* Sources confirm talks but say sides far from deal yet

(Updates share price, adds details, comments, background)

MOSCOW, March 26 (Reuters) - Shares in Russian health and drugstore chain Pharmacy 36.6 (APTK.MM) jumped as much as 40 percent on Thursday after a newspaper report that an investment fund may buy more than 25 percent of the indebted company.

Business daily Kommersant reported that Marshall Capital had agreed to buy out part of the company's additional share issue and obtain more than 25 percent of the chain.

The company, which is pinning its hopes on the new share issue to help refinance debts and settle accounts with suppliers, declined to comment on the report.

Sources close to Marshall Capital and Pharmacy 36.6 told Reuters the fund was indeed talking to the drugstore chain.

"Yes, the talks are ongoing, but it will take months, not days, to complete them. There is no final agreement on the price or the stake size yet," a source close to the fund said.

The sources said Marshall was the only investor negotiating the purchase of the company's new shares. It could even get control of the company if existing shareholders do not exercise their pre-emptive rights to buy into the issue, they said.

Kommersant quoted an unnamed source close to the negotiations as saying the deal could be worth $60-70 million.

Marshall Capital declined to comment.

Pharmacy 36.6, which analysts said has been delaying payments to suppliers, has around $160 million of short-term debts.

Apart from the share issue, it may resort to the sale of its generic drug maker Veropharm (VRPH.RTS). According to sources, it is talking to several funds about such a sale.

At 1027 GMT, shares in Pharmacy 36.6 were up 37.33 percent at 90.10 roubles ($2.67) per share, while the broader MICEX index was down 0.41 percent.

(Reporting by Maria Plis; writing by Maria Kiselyova, editing by Will Waterman)

((maria.kiselyova@reuters.com, +7 495 775 12 42, Reuters Messaging: maria.kiselyova.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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