10 Oct 2019 16:02

MTS board to mull management's listing recommendations at end-October

MOSCOW. Oct 10 (Interfax) - The board of directors at Mobile TeleSystems will consider management's listing recommendations at a meeting late October, company chef Alexei Kornya told reporters.

"We're putting our position before the board for its next meeting, at the end of October. Then it will be discussed and then we'll be prepared to comment," Kornya said.

PJSC AFK Sistema has decided not to delist the shares of PJSC MTS from the NYSE, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Sistema's primary beneficiary, told journalists October 9. "[The decision has been] made - we won't do it," he said.

There were reports at the beginning of the year that MTS could be delisted from the NYSE. In February, the company said it was planning to update its listing structure and assess whether delisting in the U.S. was in shareholders' interests. MTS said it was not planning to give up its status as a public company and did not rule out that the Moscow Exchange could become its primary platform.

Yevtushenkov said the decision was informed by the geopolitical situation.

The company has been in talks with investors for more than six months. In August, MTS head Alexei Kornya said that keeping ADRs listed on the NYSE was one possibility and that the company's management would present relevant recommendations to the board of directors by November.

MTS shares were listed on the NYSE in 2000. 44.35% of its shares are in free float, with 36.77% on the NYSE and 7.58% on the MOEX. Sistema owns 55.64% directly and through subsidiaries.