TMH not planning to return to talks to buy Rosatom's stake in Delo Management Co - CEO
NEW DELHI. Dec 5 (Interfax) - Transmashholding (TMH) does not plan to return to negotiations to purchase Rosatom State Corporation's stake in Delo Management Company LLC, TMH CEO Kirill Lipa told reporters.
"We've ended the matter," he said. Asked whether the matter was closed for good, Lipa said: "You never know, but it is for now."
Asked why the deal was called off, Lipa said "mutually beneficial formats have not yet been found."
Sergei Shishkarev, founder and co-owner of Delo Group with 50%, on December 3 confirmed filing a petition with the Federal Anti-monopoly Service to acquire 1% in Delo Management Company LLC and cancel TMH's acquisition of 49% in Delo Management Company from Rosatom. Shishkarev also allowed for the possibility of reaching an agreement on a deal between TMH and Rosatom in the future.
Later that day Rosatom told Interfax it had no plans to sell its 49% stake in Delo Management Company LLC to TMH. "Rosatom is not planning and never has planned to sell its 49% stake in Delo Management Company LLC to Transmashholding. We have serious plans for development in logistics, and we are implementing them," the Rosatom press service said.
In late November, Shishkarev filed a petition with the FAS to acquire 1% of Delo Management Company LLC, a source familiar with the document told Interfax. As a result of the transaction, his stake in the company could increase from 50% to a 51% controlling stake. The parties plan to close the deal to return Shishkarev's 1% stake by the end of the year, the source said.
At the end of December 2024, Shishkarev's stake in Delo Group dropped from 51% to 50%, as R-Alliance LLC, which is close to TMH, became the owner of 1%. JSC Atomenergoprom, a division of Rosatom, retained 49%. At the time, TMH was expected to acquire Rosatom's entire stake in Delo Management Company, with all stages of the deal scheduled to close by the end of 2025. Shortly before that, Shishkarev and Rosatom had agreed to manage the group on an equal footing. The shareholder structure remained in place, Shishkarev with 51%, Rosatom with 49%, but the partners agreed to an equal number of representatives on the board of directors and a more active role for Rosatom in management.
Rosatom, Delo Group and TMH are terminating an agreement they reached at the end of 2024 for TMH to buy the state corporation's 49% stake in the transportation and logistics group as the companies failed to agree on price, national daily Kommersant reported at the beginning of November this year. The paper cited a source close as saying that the terms of Shishkarev's sale of 1% in Delo Management Company to TMH stipulated that this stake would be returned if the deal did not proceed.
Shishkarev said Rosatom had not reached an agreement with Transmashholding on the price of Rosatom's stake.
"The idea for such an alliance was mine. Last October, I told Kirill Valerievich Lipa [head of TMH] of my idea. We really believed it was feasible at the time, but now, in the course of negotiations, we've calmly accepted that there is no agreement between Rosatom and TMH. But one could be reached in the future, if market conditions are more favorable," he said.
Delo Group operates marine container terminals in the Azov-Black Sea, Baltic and Far Eastern basins, a network of railway container terminals, and a fleet of containers and well cars. The group's transportation and logistics division includes the intermodal container operator TransContainer and the multimodal transport operator Ruscon, while its stevedoring division includes DeloPorts and leading container terminal operator Global Ports. Group founder Sergei Shishkarev owns 50% of the company, Rosatom owns 49% and R-Alliance LLC holds 1%.
