Rotenberg buys blocking Mostotrest stake from Abyzov
MOSCOW. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Arkady Rotenberg, co-owner of SMP Bank, Stroygazmontazh, Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) , and a host of other assets, has acquired stake in bridge-building specialist OJSC Mostotrest from former deputy RAO UES chief and owner of the engineering group E4 Mikhail Abyzov, the Vedomosti business daily writes, citing a Rotenberg representative.
The deal makes Rotenberg Mostotrest's third largest shareholder behind the national railway pension fund Blagosostoyaniye, which holds 36.4%, and Mostotrest's main shareholder - the company Marc O'Polo Investments with a 50.3% stake. Abyzov was to this point the latter's largest beneficiary (his effective stake in Mostotrest a bit over 25%). The ultimate beneficiaries of Marc O'Polo are Abyzov and managers of the N-Trans group. A blocking stake is held by companies affiliated with Russian Railways (RZD) .
The terms of the deal between Rotenberg and Abyzov have not been released.
Financing for the purchase might come from proceeds resulting from the sale of a stake in NCSP. Not long ago, the port's main owners (in addition to Rotenberg, they are Alexander Ponomarenko and Alexander Skorobogatko) agreed to sell a controlling NCSP stake to the owners of the port Primorye - Russian oil pipeline company Transneft and Summa Capital.
Mostotrest is now engaged in an initial public offering, for which the company's value has been assessed at $1.55-$1.99 billion. Placement is slated to wrap up in November. The IPO organizers are Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Troika Dialog and TCB Capital.
Mostotrest is a leading builder of automotive, rail and pedestrian bridges and other structures, in Russia, the CIS and the Baltic States.