Page 83 - RusRPTDec19
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8.3.3 ECM news
Russian natural gas giant Gazprom sold 3.59% of its quasi-treasury shares at RUB220.7 per share, making a sizable 13% discount to market. Notably, the buyer of the stake is not disclosed, making it the second mystery SPO this year in Russia's largest company. As reported by bne IntelliNews, in July Gazprom already sold a quasi-treasury stake of 2.93% in a surprise SPO for RUB139bn, cashing in on the recent rally of its shares and record-high capitalisation. “What Gazprom has done - twice - this year is quite bizarre. If you've been trading Russia for a long time then automatically you adopt a more phlegmatic approach to corporate governance but one must stop and consider for moment, that a company with a market cap of $95bn, held by almost every big fund manager in EM and many in developed, has conducted a private placing of a 3.59% stake at an 11% discount, frozen out all minorities and then not saw fit to tell those minorities who bought it,” wrote Julian Rimmer a long standing trader of Russian equities. “In the real world, not the Crazytown that is Russia, this would be unforgiveable. EM investors just shrug and move on but it's clear that the interests of the government and minorities are not aligned and this is why the stock will always trade dirt cheap.” Almost half of the first offer went to one unnamed investor, and unconfirmed reports claimed that the structures of stoligarch Arcady Rotenberg bought out the shares. Gazprom does not have to disclose the new shareholders, as both transactions were below 5%, but the lack of transparency around new mystery shareholders is raising eyebrows among investors and commentators.
Russian children's goods retailer Detsky Mir carried out an SPO of 23.7% of its shares on November 23 at RUB140 per share, after which the multi-industry investment conglomerate AFK Sistema remains the main shareholder of the company. As reported by bne IntelliNews, Sistema has been seeking to SPO or sell the asset. Previous reports suggested that the retailer could be sold to the Safmar Group of Mikhail Gutseriev or to Sovcombank, while the latest reports claimed that Indian Surya Group and multi-industry holding Reliance Industries could be the buyer. Instead of selling to a single anchor investor Sistema opted for issuing additional shares in an SPO, together with another shareholder Russia-China Investment Fund. The sale price came in with a 3% discount to the market price of the share. Sistema will retain a 33.4% stake and Russian Fund for Direct Investment (RDIF) a 9% stake, respectively, in Detsky Mir, while the free float of the company increases from 33.9% to 57.6%.
Russia’s oldest and largest tour operator Intourist is planning an IPO,
after a Turkish investors buys out its shares from the bankrupt Thomas Cook travel company, the company said on November 14. Neşet Koçkar, the chairman of Turkish-based Anex Tour, who was a shareholder in Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel company, said he plans to develop the Intourist brand and use Anex Tour to build the business up. Koçkar will reportedly acquire the domestic and foreign tour operating business of Intourist, its retail chains, information systems, and other assets for an undisclosed amount. Anex Tour is one of the largest tour operators in Russia, but the Intourist brand will be preserved.
83 RUSSIA Country Report December 2019 www.intellinews.com
