Ros Agro offers Rusagro GDR holders assistance to move them from NSD to other depository
MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - Ros Agro Plc (Rosagro), the flagship company of Russian agribusiness group Rusagro, has offered the holders of Global Depositary Receipts (GDR) on Rusagro shares whose rights are recorded by the National Settlement Depository (NSD), a division of the Moscow Exchange group that is subject to European sanctions, assistance in transferring blocked GDRs to another depository of the holders' choosing that is not subject to restrictions.
The company has offered GDR holders the choice of two types of assistance. Upon application by a holder of the GDRs, Rosagro will apply to the competent European regulator for a licence to enable transfer of the holder's blocked GDRs to another depository specified by the holder and which is not subject to restrictions, the company said in a statement. In this case, documents listed in the statement, including ones to determine the sanctions status of the GDR holder, must be sent to legal counsel by December 12.
In the other option, Rosagro proposed to transfer the GDRs from NSD to the depository JSC Kit Finance of Kazakhstan. In this case, Kit Finance will proceed with obtaining a permit for transferring the blocked assets. After Kit Finance obtains the permit from the European regulator, it intends to transfer the relevant GDRs to a custody sub-account with the Central Securities Depository of Kazakhstan (KCSD), which will charge a fee of 0.5% of the market value of the GDRs for their safekeeping. The deadline for depositing the GDRs with Kit Finance is December 15.
Rosagro said it continues to explore and evaluate other options for restoring corporate rights of holders of the GDRs held through the NSD. Therefore, the company does not exclude that it may propose other means to restore corporate rights of GDR holders in the future.
In a disclaimer, the company said that the GDR holders "are responsible for the timely submission of the documents and their completeness and accuracy."
"Neither Rosagro nor the legal counsel undertake any obligation to verify completeness and accuracy of the documents provided. Rosagro is unable to influence decisions of the European regulators or to ensure that they issue decisions on applications received in relation to the Depositary Receipts. Rosagro will not be responsible for the acts or omissions of any European depositary and/or clearing systems, including Euroclear or Clearstream, in relation to any transfers or other transactions with the Depositary Receipts," the company said.
Rosagro GDRs are now traded on the London Stock Exchange and the Moscow Exchange. Rosagro is registered in Cyprus and headquartered in Moscow. In June, Rosagro shareholders confirmed the possibility that the company's GDRs might be delisted from the LSE and that its securities might be placed on another international exchange. The decision will be made by the company's board of directors.
Rusagro is a major Russian producer of sugar, pork, sunflower oil, mayonnaise and margarine. The company carried out an initial public offering on the LSE in 2011 and listed its GDRs on the Moscow Exchange in 2014.