Фонд Oppenheimer скупает акции Алрос-а

Фонд Oppenheimer скупает акции Алрос-а




By Ksenia Galouchko and Irina Reznik
(Bloomberg) -- Oppenheimer Funds Inc., the asset management
unit of Lazard Ltd. and sovereign wealth investors were among
buyers of shares in Alrosa PJSC in Russia's biggest state-asset
sale in three years, according to two people with knowledge of
the deal.
Mubadala Development Co. PJSC, Abu Dhabi Investment
Authority and Charlemagne Capital Ltd. also took part in the
offering, said the people, who asked not to be identified
because the information isn't public. The sovereign Russian
Direct Investment Fund also bought a "small" stake, it said in a
statement, without disclosing the size. Russia raised 52.2
billion rubles ($813 million) in the sale of 10.9 percent of the
diamond miner, the government said on Monday.
Mubadala, Lazard, and Oppenheimer declined to comment,
while Charlemagne didn't reply to a request for comment from
Bloomberg. Lazard and Oppenheimer weren't in the order book,
another person said, asking not to be identified as the matter
isn't public.
The RDIF bought a stake of about $50 million, according to
one of the people.
The sale is the first of three major offerings approved by
President Vladimir Putin for this year as the government seeks
cash to bridge the widest budget deficit since 2010. Russia's
economy is facing its deepest recession since 2009 after
enduring a collapse in oil prices and punitive sanctions over
the annexation of Crimea. Officials had been looking to sell the
Alrosa stake at 71 rubles a share, Kommersant reported on
Monday.

Shares Advance

Shares were priced at 65 rubles each in the offering,
according to the government, a 3.8 percent discount to Alrosa's
closing price on Friday. The stock gained 0.5 percent to 67.86
rubles by the close in Moscow on Monday.
European and Russian investors led demand for shares, with
about 35 percent of interest coming from each region, while
Asian and Middle Eastern buyers together contributed 25 percent,
and U.S. funds contributed 5 percent, Boris Kvasov, director of
equity capital markets at VTB Capital, which co-organized the
sale with Sberbank CIB, said in an interview on Monday. During
Alrosa's previous share sale in 2013, the U.S. was responsible
for 40 percent of demand, he said.
"This time, the risk-reward ratio wasn't comfortable for
U.S. investors," said Kvasov.

Market Recovery

The timing of the sale was selected so that investors could
buy the stock before July 19, Alrosa's dividend record date, and
after the market volatility over the U.K.'s vote in June to
leave the European Union subsided, said Kvasov.
Alrosa's share price has advanced 22 percent this year amid
a recovery in the diamond market. The gem miner reported record
profit of 49.2 billion rubles in the first quarter and promised
to pay out half its net income in dividends for 2015, more than
the 35 percent required by company policy. At the same time, its
estimated price-to-earnings ratio for the next 12 months is the
lowest since November at 5.2, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg.
Russian state asset sales are proceeding on schedule, and
stock sales of oil producers Bashneft PJSC, Rosneft PJSC and
Russian tanker owner Sovcomflot OAO may follow soon, Russian
First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said at the Moscow
Exchange on Monday.

--With assistance from Mahmoud Habboush.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Ksenia Galouchko in Moscow at kgalouchko1@bloomberg.net;
Irina Reznik in Moscow at ireznik@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Alex Nicholson at anicholson6@bloomberg.net
Douglas Lytle, Chris Vellacott