FESCO denies reports about talks on sale of TransContainer stake
MOSCOW. June 15 (Interfax) - The FESCO transport group has denied reports in the media about negotiations on the sale of its package of shares and GDRs in rail container freight operator TransContainer .
"FESCO is not conducting negotiations on the sale of its package of shares and GDRs in TransContainer. Ownership of the asset is a strategic investment for the company. Rumors about the sale are inaccurate," the company's statement said.
The news that FESCO and Russian Railways were discussing selling the FESCO stake in TransContainer was reported on Wednesday by the Vedomosti newspaper. A newspaper source, close to FESCO's top management, said that the negotiations "took place about a month ago," but the sides were unable to agree on the price.
On Tuesday, the 24.17% TransContainer stake on the Moscow Exchange had a value of 9.9 billion rubles. The Vedomosti source could not say how much FESCO was asking for. Representatives of the transport group and its co-owner, the Summa Group, deny that negotiations with Russian Railways took place and that they intend to sell their stake in TransContainer.
FESCO bought its first 12.5% stake in TransContainer in 2010 during its IPO for $138.9 million and has gradually increased its share in the company since then, the paper said.
