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34 I Cover story bne October 2021
MOSCOW
Planned
Renaissance Insurance
Renaissance is a digital disruptor on the Russian insurance market with about 70% of claims processed exclusively through online channels and new partners
– from online retailers to pet shops – connected in 1-2 days versus more than a month with traditional peers. The company, whose main shareholders include its founder Boris Jordan, Baring Vostok Capital Partners, Millhouse and Invest, AG may announce an IPO in Moscow as soon as this month, offering new shares
for $250mn, according to Interfax, while Bloomberg reported the company is seeking valuation of $1bn. Independent status helps Renaissance increase sales efficiency and grow twice as fast and twice as profitable as its main competitors. While insurance remains its main focus, Renaissance is also developing telemedicine project, which started to grow exponentially amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Europlan
Europlan ranks among 15 largest auto leasing companies in Europe. The company is a long-established leader in Russia, providing a full range of leasing and operational services covering cars, trucks, commercial vehicles and special equipment to individuals and legal entities across Russia's key towns and cities. Europlan's owner Safmar Financial Investments is planning the company’s IPO
in Moscow and seeks to raise at least $300mn, Reuters reported May 17.
Otkritie
One of Russia’s largest state-run lenders plans to hold an IPO by the middle of next year as part of the bank’s privatization, Financial Times reported June 21. The lender, which has a book value of about $7.4bn and assets exceeding $50bn, may offer between 15% and 20% of
its shares on a Russian and possibly an international exchange next year, according to the newspaper. The offering would be the first Russian banking IPO since Credit Bank of Moscow’s placement in 2015. Russia’s central bank which became Otkritie’s owner in 2017 to get it through financial rehabilitation, is also considering an option to sell controlling stake to
a strategic investor.
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UNDETERMINED LOCATION Mercury Retail
Mercury Retail pioneered the ultra-convenience store concept in Russia and is now the country's largest player with 13,500 neighbourhood stores nationwide under Red & White and Bristol brands. The company said it may IPO this year or in early 2022 with a valuation of as much as $20bn. Its stores offer an assortment of daily essential goods within a short walking distance
of customers' homes at among the lowest prices on the market. Ultra-convenience is the fastest-growing channel in the Russian food retail market. Sales are expected to more than triple by 2025 to over RUB5 trillion. Mercury’s two brands have a combined market share in the ultra-convenience segment of 43% and about 4.6% of the total food retail market, according
to InfoLine. The two chains’ like-for-like sales rose 20% in the first half of the year, while total sales jumped 27% to RUB330bn.
FUTURE IPOS POST 2021 Sibur
Russia’s largest petrochemical company recently announced a merger with its rival TAIF, a deal that postponed Sibur's plan for an IPO. The company is currently implementing a plan to further expand its petrochemicals business and enter new export m arkets as it capitalizes on synergies from the merger with TAIF. Sibur may go back to the IPO plan in a couple of years and the value of the company may exceed $20bn.
Metalloinvest
The world's largest producer and supplier of merchant hot briquetted iron, or HBI, products, a low-carbon raw material to produce "green" steel, plans to
double its HBI capacities to meet growing demand for environmentally friendly feedstock. The company plans an IPO as early as in 2022 amid investors' pressure
to accelerate the transition to “green” metallurgy, according to Bloomberg. Metalloinvest expects a capitalization of about $20bn, industry analysts say.