Russia's Rolf interested in incentives from govt when going public, ready in 2025-2026
MOSCOW. Dec 27 (Interfax) - The Rolf dealer holding could hold an IPO in 2025-2026 and is interested in measures to support public companies from the government, the group's first deputy general director Svetlana Vinogradova told Interfax.
"At the Russia Calling! forum, the president said that an IPO should be linked to some kind of subsidies, especially for large businesses. Of course, this is such a good opportunity for us. We are already on the path of developing an ecosystem. But despite the fact that we say that it is not very interesting to invest "in concrete" now, we still need investments for our new projects," Vinogradova said, noting that Rolf may conduct an IPO in late 2025-early 2026.
The exact parameters of the placement in the group have not been announced yet, though the volume could be 10%-15% of the capital, Vinogradova said.
"We more or less understand the value of the company, and we have already prepared all the technical work. We are waiting for a symbiosis of favorable factors to have a window for entering the market," she said.
Vinogradova said that the high cost of money is currently influencing the formation of Rolf's strategic projects, including in terms of expansion into Russia's regions, for which the company now prefers the franchising model to conducting an M&A transaction.
"We are a systemically important company. We had subsidized loans during the pandemic. Now we do not have them. That is why, given that we now have market money, we are considering startup options that provide EBITDA growth, though do not increase working capital," Vinogradova said.
President Vladimir Putin at the VTB forum in early December announced the need "to prepare a package of additional incentive measures for stock issuers so that entering the stock market becomes more profitable and interesting for them."
"We will certainly continue to strengthen the capital market and support companies entering the stock exchange with their securities in order to support the desire of businesses to invest in development, expand capacity, and create jobs," Putin said.
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin and Central Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina also discussed government support for public companies at the forum. Nabiullina said that the figures for companies raising funds from the capital market and through loans are incomparable at 102 billion rubles versus 12.5 trillion rubles.
"The potential for placements is huge. Additional incentives are needed here, this will not happen on its own, not only because of the key rate, we are currently discussing them with the government, including the reorientation of government support measures so as not to discriminate against the capital market, when benefits are issued only for attracting resources through credit. This will not require an increase in funding [from the budget], it needs to be reoriented," Nabiullina said.
"For example, we could not give subsidies to non-public companies," Oreshkin said.
"We could, as an option. As we once considered, by the way, within the framework of the government commission on permits for the acquisition of shares of foreign investors in order to bring them to the public market [as a condition for approving transactions for the exit of foreign investors from Russian assets]. It seems to me that we should also return to this topic," Nabiullina said.
