NCSP shells out 2.531 bln rubles buying shares from holders against Primorsk Port deal
MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax) - OJSC Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) has spent 2.531 billion rubles buying up shares from shareholders not in favor of the port's purchase of Primorsk Trade Port LLC (PTP), the company reported.
NCSP bought back 516,686,496 ordinary shares, or roughly 2.7% of overall issued shares.
All told, 30% of the port's shares in free circulation are available for buy-up. The offer price has been reported to be 4.9 rubles per and that was 13% more than the price being offered at the moment the buy-up was announced.
The purchase of Primorsk Trade Port was closed on January 21, 2010. NCSP acquired the port for $2.15 billion, having raising a Sberbank of Russia credit of $1.95 billion for the deal and paying the rest out of ready cash. Subsequently, the PTP owners (Russian oil pipeline company Transneft and the group Summa Capital had controlled the company through the offshore Omirico Ltd) bought 50.1% of the stock in the Novorossiysk port (from the offshore Novoport Ltd, which was controlled by entrepreneurs Alexander Skorobogatko, Alexander Ponomarenko, and Arkady Rotenberg) for $2.5 billion (the market value of the stake was $1.4).
The NCSP group is one of the largest port operators in Russia. Consolidated sales revenues to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) totaled $675.1 million in 2009, net profits - $252.2 million. Federal property fund Rosimuschestvo owns 20% of NCSP, Russian Railways (RZD) 5%, and 19.4% is traded on the LSE and Russian floors.
Other than Novoport, Russian state property fund Rosimuschestvo owns 20% of NCSP, OJSC Russian Railways (RZD) - 5%, and another 29.9% is in free circulation.
Primorsk Trade Port is a major Russian oil port, handling roughly 30% of the oil produced in Russia for export and nearly 37% of the oil exported through Russian seaports.