Polyus to sell up to 9 pct of its shares in London, Moscow offering (updated)
15/06/2017 11:17
* Polyus says price range set at $33.25-35.30/GDS
* Price range to result in market value of $8.5-9 bln
* Upper end of price range equal to deal with Fosun
* Russian stock market hit multi-month lows
* Gold up 0.1 pct, stays near a three-weak low
(Adds details, context, analysts' comment)
By Polina Devitt
MOSCOW, June 15 (Reuters) - Russia's top gold producer
Polyus PLZL.MM will offer between 7 and 9 percent of its
shares, including new shares, in its planned stock offer in
London and Moscow, it said on Thursday as it set a price range.
The price range was set at $33.25-$35.30 per global
depositary share in London, corresponding to a price of
$66.50-$70.60 per ordinary share in Moscow, Polyus said in a
statement. The latter will be paid in roubles.
The company said the price range would result in a market
capitalisation of between $8.5 billion and $9 billion on a
pre-money, fully diluted basis, including treasury shares. Final
pricing of the offer is expected on June 30.
Analysts said the price range looked attractive even though
the timing of the offer, which is likely to test appetite for
Russian assets and is the first major offering on the Moscow
market in 2017, comes as Russian shares are hit by concerns
about new U.S. sanctions and weaker oil prices.
"It is not the best moment for the placement, of course. It
could significantly complicate the placement," said Kirill
Chuyko at BCS Investment Bank.
Moscow's rouble-traded MICEX index .MCX hit its lowest
level since March 2016 on Thursday after the U.S. Senate voted
for new sanctions punishing Russia for meddling in the 2016 U.S.
election. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1JC14A urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1JB1TS
Shares in Polyus, which is listed on the Moscow Exchange
with a free float of 6.76 percent, were down 2 percent at 4,367
roubles ($75.9).
However, Polyus is a pure producer of gold, considered a
safe haven during times of political and financial uncertainty,
and its production costs are relatively low. Prices for the
precious metal XAU= are near a three-weak low this week but up
10 percent this year. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1JC22A
Polyus delisted from the London Stock Exchange in late 2015
after Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis
began to bite for Russian companies.
It returns to London buoyed by a recent $887 million deal to
sell a 10 percent stake to a Chinese consortium led by Fosun
International 0656.HK . urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1IX4LW
The Chinese deal had valued Polyus at $70.6 per share, which
is equal to the upper end of the price range for its share
offer.
"Polyus looks attractive in this price range, the upper end
of which coincides with the price of the previously announced
deal with Fosun," Vadim Kotikov, analyst at Uralsib, said.
Polyus plans to raise $400 million from the sale of new
shares and plans to use the proceeds to repay some of its debt
and finance projects. Further proceeds from the sale of existing
shares will go to its controlling shareholder, the family of
Russian tycoon Suleiman Kerimov. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1J20TW
($1 = 57.5273 roubles)
(Reporting by Polina Devitt and Diana Asonova; Editing by Katya
Golubkova and Susan Fenton)
((Polina.Devitt@thomsonreuters.com; +7 495 775 12 42; Reuters
Messaging: polina.devitt.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: RUSSIA POLYUS/SPO