Moscow press review for June 27, 2011
MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - The following is a digest of Moscow newspapers published on June 27. Interfax does not accept liability for information in these stories.
VEDOMOSTI:
Rosneft intends to expand to the aircraft filling market. It is negotiating the acquisition of a stake in the Vnukovo airport fuelling complex. Vedomosti was told that the airport's private shareholders are ready to sell 50% of the complex to Rosneft for $600 million. Four legal entities currently own the infrastructure of the complex. The asset will be transferred to one company shortly and the ins shares will be offered to Rosneft, a Vnukovo employee specified. Presently both the seller and the buyer have hired independent valuators to finalize the price of the asset. The deal is expected to be closed by autumn, the employee said. ("Rosneft going to Vnukovo")
As it promised RusAl has agreed with Western banks on a syndicated loan amounting to $4.75 billion to refinance its debts. Its Board of Directors approved the terms of borrowing, RusAl reports. The loan will be extended for five years and will be paid back quarterly in equal installments starting with the 15th month. The rate will be floating and depend on the correlation of the net debt to the company EBITDA. Now it is below 3.5 - LIBOR + 2.35%. When the correlation drops below 2.5 the margin will be 1.75%. The loan will be supported by guarantees of RusAl affiliates: the Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novokuznetsk and Sayanogorsk plants, Sual, RTI Ltd., RS International and Rusal Marketing. After refinancing its debts RusAl will be able to start paying dividends, its director for capital markets Oleg Mukhamedshin said a few days ago. ("Deripaska's Debts")
Switzerland's Sulzer engineering concern in which Viktor Vekselberg's Renova owns 31.2% has placed five-year bonds for 500 million Swiss francs in Switzerland at 2.25% per annum, the company reports. The money will be used for the purchase of the Swedish pump producer Cardo Flow Solutions from Assa Abloy. The total sum of the deal is 868 million francs ($940 million). It was announced in April and will be closed in H2 but so far the financing pattern had not been disclosed.
The remaining part of the sum (360 million francs) will be assigned from the concern's own resources, said a representative of Rotek, the Renova division in charge of Sulzer. Sulzer has the money - at the end of 2010 it had 668.1 million francs ($710.11 million) in money assets and their equivalents given combined debts in the amount of 128 million francs ($136.1 million). ("Millions for Pumps")
KOMMERSANT
Vice Premier Igor Sechin has left all the Boards of Directors of state corporations that he used to head. Two weeks ago he did not attend the annual shareholder meeting of Rosneft. Neither did he say farewell to shareholders of Inter RAO UES . The minority shareholders were very upset and came up with an unexpected demand that next year the company management hand them with a pillow, blanket or at least a box of tea instead of the annual report. So far in addition to small dividends shareholders have succeeded in receiving only food coupons from Inter RAO. (p. 1 "Inter RAO feeds Shareholders")
EBRD may become a major Western investor in the Russian pension system. It is considering entering the capital of the European Pension Fund that started operating on the market of mandatory pension insurance last year. If the decision is made, it will be the first EBRD project on the pension market after the crisis. However, investment in the Russian pension business contains high political risks, analysts say by way of warning. (p. 8 "EBRD starts thinking of Pensions")
August Meyer, owning 40.6% in Lenta hypermarket chain, and the consortium of U.S. TPG and VTB Capital, owning 30.8% of the network, have almost settled their corporate conflict. The funds agreed to buy a little over of 20% from Mr. Meyer's stake while EBRD, already owning 11% wants to buy about 10% from him. Meyer says he finally succeeded in getting a full price. (p. 7 "Lenta close to Resolution")
Kommersant has learned that structures of Mikhail Gutseriyev and Mikhail Shishkhanov are acquiring Kaluzhsky shopping mall with floorspace of 57,000 m2 in Moscow's Profsoyuznaya [Trade Union] street. Its price is estimated at $150 million to $230 million. It is the biggest deal on the Moscow market of shopping real estate in three years, consultants claim. (p. 9 "Mikhail Gutseriyev makes it for Trade Union Leadership")
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