MOSCOW, June 14 - RAPSI. Cypriot Pakva Investments Limited (Pakva) has filed a motion with a commercial court challenging the ban on acquiring a 3.75 percent stake in the Seventh Continent (SCON) retail chain.

The company filed the motion with the Moscow Commercial Court.

Pakva already controls 96.25 percent of SCON together with affiliated companies.

On May 14, SCON received a request to purchase the remaining shares from Pakva at a price of 100 rubles ($3) per share. The following day, the financial watchdog returned the request, as Pakva is not entitled to request a share purchase.

In November 2011, the Federal Antimonopoly Service held for Pakva's request to acquire a 100 percent stake in SCON. In February 2012, Pakva held a voluntary share purchase offer at the price of 100 rubles per share.

Founded in 1994, SCON operates 156 stores including 19 hypermarkets. Ten are in Moscow and the Moscow region. Its net profit in the first half of 2011 was 1.846 billion rubles ($56.4 million).