Boris Zingarevich might hold option to stake in Lenta - paper
MOSCOW. Nov 6 (Interfax) - Russian food retailer Lenta, the principal shareholders of which are TPG Capital, the EBRD and VTB Capital, has another potential shareholder.
An option to buy shares in the retailer for $85 million is held by a person who helped Lenta resolve a shareholder dispute, a company report shows.
The option to buy 3.375 million shares at a price of $25.086 per share was granted in September 2011, Lenta's report states. It can be exercised during an IPO or when one of the key shareholders sells their stake to a third party.
The company had 85,466,788 outstanding shares as of June 30, the report states. The unnamed individual therefore has an option to a stake of about 4% (not including quasi-treasury stock; a little more than 3% with this stock).
Business daily Vedomosti, citing a source, reported that one of the founders and co-owners of the Ilim group, Boris Zingarevich helped Lenta's feuding shareholders - VTB Capital and TPG on one hand and August Meyer and his partners on the other - find common ground and he is the one who received the option. Zingarevich has a seat on Lenta's board of directors.
However, Zingarevich, when asked about the option, said: "It's not me," Vedomosti reported.
The option could be exercised soon, as Lenta is planning an IPO at the beginning of 2014 and it is seen on the market as one of the most promising Russian deals of the coming year.
At the end of the first half, TPG owned 40.17% of Lenta through Luna Inc, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development held 17.32%, VTB Capital held 9.45% through Luna Holdings, and the company's subsidiary Lakatomo Holdings held 19.41%.
