Metalloinvest planning Moscow IPO in medium term - Usmanov
MOSCOW. Dec 27. (Interfax) - Metalloinvest is planning an IPO on the Moscow Exchange in the medium term, Alisher Usmanov, the iron ore and steel holding's core owner, said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.
"I think we'll definitely hold an IPO in the medium term. Right now we can say for sure that for the existing shareholder setup it is not necessary at all to have 100% of the shares. We are using our shareholder capital willingly to improve the company's financial state and ease our debt burden," Usmanov said.
He said shares in the company would be floated initially on the Moscow Exchange "in order to launch liquid trading in our securities on the Russian markets," he said.
Metalloinvest manages iron ore producers Mikhailovsky Mining and Processing and Lebedinsky Mining and Processing and steel producers Oskol Electrometallurgical Combine (OEMK) and Urals Steel.
Usmanov also said he saw no crisis on the iron ore market, merely that the market was "disposed towards the needs of China" where "around half the world's iron ore gravitates."
"In my view, the search for ways to start new iron ore deliveries to the Chinese market is a task of state importance. And we will work non-stop on this until our Chinese partners and our country's leaders have a full understanding of this situation," Usmanov said.