Alrosa officially announces intent to have IPO
MOSCOW. Oct 2 (Interfax) - Alrosa , Russia's diamond monopoly, has officially announced the company's intention to conduct a public offering of shares, which are on the MICEX A1 quotation list coded ALRS.
The news caused the company's stock to jump 1.78% to 36.9 rubles on the Moscow Exchange .
The IPO will be part of the program for the privatization of state assets and will amount to 14% of shares belonging 50/50 to the Russian Federation and Yakutia, which the monopoly's main production assets are located. The market will also be offered 2% of Alrosa capital belonging to Wargan Holdings, Ltd.
Sources at the company College Hill, which represents Alrosa interests, told Interfax that the placement will take place on the MICEX among investors from Russia and elsewhere.
"The net proceeds of the offering to be received by ALROSA from the shares sold by Wargan Holdings Limited will be used to repay existing debt," the company said in a statement.
"We will continue to focus on our core business of exploration, mining and sale of rough diamonds, pursuing expansion opportunities in Russia and other regions, such as Africa. We will also continue to improve operational efficiency and to consolidate our position as the global leader in the diamond mining industry. Corporate social responsibility will remain among key priorities, especially in Yakutia where most of our operations and the majority of our 39,000 employees are based," Alrosa president Fyodor Andreyev is quoted as saying.
Russia's stake in the company will as a result of the IPO decrease from 50.92% to 43.9% and Yakutia's from 32% to 25% plus one share.
The company's charter capital is divided into 7,364,965,630 ordinary shares with par value of half a ruble each. Eight ulus of Yakutia hold 8% and other legal entities and private investors have 9.07%.