Russian Coal in talks to acquire Kuzbasskaya Toplivnaya Company - sources
KEMEROVO. Jan 15 (Interfax) - Russian Coal, a Moscow-based division of Mikhail Gutseriev's Safmar Industrial and Financial Group, is holding negotiations to acquire Kemerovo Region coal miner Kuzbasskaya Toplivnaya Company (KTK) , two sources familiar with the situation told Interfax on Monday.
One of the sources said that Russian Coal has already made the decision to acquire KTK, its representative of now in Kemerovo Region and the deal is expected to be closed in February.
The other source said that Russian Coal is only one of the participants in negotiations to acquire KTK. "KTK has been up for sale for a long time. There have been all kinds of suitors," the source said, adding that "there is no clarity on the deal at this point."
Russian Coal's press service, when asked by Interfax whether the company plans to acquire KTK, said that at present it "cannot confirm or deny this information."
"Right now the favorable situation on the world coal market is continuing. In 2018, production of hard thermal coal at Russian Coal Group mines in Krasnoyarsk Territory grew by 22% and production of brown thermal coal at mines in Amur Region grew by 3%. We are optimistic about the Russian coal sector's prospects for development and are prepared to consider opportunities to expand our assets with mining projects that fit into the logic of our development strategy and compliment our product line," the press service said.
KTK declined to comment.