Metro Cash & Carry mulls IPO for Russian subsidiary
MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax) - Germany's Metro Cash & Carry, a division of the Metro Group, is considering an IPO for its Russian subsidiary, financial market sources told Interfax.
The offering could total "about $1 billion," one source said. If the company decided to go ahead, the IPO could be carried out in the first half of 2014, but there are no agreements on the timing yet. The exchange for the IPO has also not been chosen yet.
Potential coordinators of the IPO include JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Sberbank CIB, the source said.
Another source also said the IPO could amount to about $1 billion. He said Metro would not divest its interest in the Russian division; its stake would decrease, but it is not yet clear by how much.
Metro Cash & Carry operates in Russia through LLC Metro Cash and Carry. The company closed 2012 with a net profit of 13.2 billion rubles on revenue of 186.2 billion rubles, according to the SPARK-Interfax database.
The Russian division of Metro Cash & Carry reported that revenue in Russia grew 20% to 4.1 billion euros in 2012. Metro Cash & Carry's overall revenues totaled 32 billion rubles in 2012.
LLC Metro Cash and Carry spokesperson Oksana Tokareva declined to comment on the possibility of an IPO. Officials at Metro Cash & Carry's head office have been unavailable for comment.
Another Russian retailer, LLC Lenta, is expected to carry out an IPO in 2014. The company plans to raise up to $1.5 billion with an offering on the London Stock Exchange, financial market sources said.