Page 31 - bne IntelliNews Georgia country report November 2017

Weekly Lists
November 11, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 31
bne:TMT Prague-based anti-
virus software giant Avast Software to IPO in London
Bailed Russian Otkritie Bank keeps buying into payment system Qiwi
The Prague-based anti-virus software giant Avast Software has hired Rothschild to prepare an IPO offer that could raise as much as $4bn, Reuters reported on November 8.
Avast was taken over by CVC Capital Partners in 2014 and is looking to cash out some of the gains made since then. The IPO is expected to take place during the first half of next year on the London Stock Exchange given suitable market conditions, according to the news service's sources.
If the IPO is successful then it would become the UK’s biggest ever tech float. Avast has already tried to float once before. That attempt was made on the US Nasdaq exchange in 2012 but the offer was pulled due to poor market conditions.
Otkritie Investments Cyprus Limited (OICL) controlled by the Fi- nancial Corporation Otkritieholding, bailed by the Central Bank
of Russia (CBR), has bought RUB3.2bn ($54mn) worth of GDRs of Russia's leading electronic payment system Qiwi, Interfax reported on November 10 citing the company.
The share of OICL in Qiwi increased to 8.9%. Alfa Bank commented on November 11 that "current difficulties at Otkritie are unlikely to affect Qiwi's investment case," while recommending to buy Qiwi shares at current levels.
This view is also supported by VTB Capital, claiming that latest OICL transaction "support our view that Otkritie Holding is unlikely to sell Qiwi’s shares on the market at the moment."
Russia’s state-controlled development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) announced that it has signed an agreement with the Export– Import Bank of China (China EximBank) for an “up to $3bn” credit line, East-West Digital News reported on November 7.
As a part of the ongoing pivot to the East, this past summer several Russian state-owned funds and banks, including VEB, signed agreements with Chinese counterparts to support Russian projects for the combined amounts of over $12bn.
The new agreement with EximBank was signed in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.
China to finance $3bn of Russian infrastructure and high-tech projects