Page 98 - RusRPTNov20

principal shareholder Pavel Golubkov, who offered, together with his fellow shareholders, stakes of 1%, 0.5% and 3.6% from their respective holdings. An additional 2.5% of new shares were offered to raise capital that will be invested into the company’s operations. The company is offering a minimum guaranteed dividend payout of RUB5bn ($65mn) a year irrespective of its financial performance and larger payments depending on the earnings and debt position of the company. If the ​net debt/adjusted EBITDA ratio is below one then it will pay out 50% of profits as dividends and if the ratio is between one and two then 33%. If the ratio is over two then the company may not pay any dividends other than the guaranteed RUB5bn.
Mobile TeleSystems​ (MTS) reported that it had acquired another 1,450,714 of its own shares from the open market​, representing 0.073% of its share capital, on Friday, 23 October. We view the news as neutral for MTS, as the amount bought last week is broadly similar to previous weeks. We think the buyback program should continue to provide short-term support to MTS’ share price. Based on the average price for MTS shares last week, we estimate that the company spent c. RUB 463mn during last week’s buyback, or 3% of the RUB 15bn allocated for the program. MTS has spent c. RUB 10bn (67% of the RUB 15bn allocated) and purchased c. 29.3mn shares (representing around 1.5% of its share capital) since the buyback began.
Ford Sollers​ plans to buy back 1.713mn shares, or 5% of them, at a price ofRUB267​,reports​Interfax,​ quotingadecisionbythecompany'sBoardof Directors. The price of the offer implies a 10.6% discount to Thursday's close. We think the price is unattractive, given the fundamental value upside that we see in the name. However, the offer might present an opportunity to those minority shareholders, who want to exit this illiquid name. We also believe that pricing the offer at below the market level sends a negative signal from the corporate governance perspective. Shareholders can apply for the buyback between 20 November and 20 December, according to the report.
VTB Capital has acquired 350mn shares of Russia’s national flagship air carrier Aeroflot for RUB21bn in a recent secondary public offering (SPO), the airline said in a statement on Tuesday. Aeroflot announced the SPO on September 21. The price was set at RUB60 ruble apiece. A spokesperson for VTB Capital told PRIME that the purchase was technical, and the shares will be transferred to institutional investors.
Aeroflot​ announced book building for RUB39bn on October 2. The deal’s total size is expected to be RUB80bn+.
Aeroflot received applications from existing shareholders to subscribe 986mn shares, including 869mn shares from the state. Such an application from the state implies no change in case of the maximum possible share issue of 1.7bn shares (i.e., 2.5x increase in shares
98 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ November 2020 www.intellinews.com