ICT pulls out of Polymetal, sells stake to Omani company

MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) - ICT Group, which is owned by Russian businessman Alexander Nesis and his partners, has pulled out of silver and gold miner Polymetal .

ICT sold its 23.9% stake in Polymetal to a company owned by a consortium of investors from the Sultanate of Oman, led by Mercury Investments International LLC, which becomes the company's largest shareholder, the miner reported.

The price of the deal was not disclosed. The stake is worth $554 million based on the last trading price on the Astana Stock Exchange.

ICT representative Konstantin Yanakov has stepped down from Polymetal's board of directors. The company expects the new shareholder to nominate its own candidate to the board.

The new shareholder has confirmed its full support of Polymetal's strategy, which includes disposing of its Russian operation and further developing its asset base in Kazakhstan and the wider region, said Vitaly Nesis, Group CEO of Polymetal International plc.

"We believe the transaction does not affect the interests of minority shareholders - the change of shareholder structure is neutral for market sentiment," analysts from the My Investments Telegram channel said. But they maintain a "cautious viewpoint" of the company's shares on the Moscow Exchange , which continue to trade at a premium of over 10% to the Astana stock exchange, and which "looks fundamentally unsubstantiated." The focus remains on the deal to sell the Russian part of the business, the details of which have not yet been disclosed, they said.

Polymetal is the biggest silver miner and one of the biggest gold miners in Russia. It has operations in Russia's Magadan and Sverdlovsk Regions, the Khabarovsk Territory, Yakutia, Chukotka, and in Kazakhstan.