Russian bank’s London listing failure could hit future City IPOs
THE RUSH of Russian firms looking to list in London took a blow yesterday as Promsvyazbank failed to attract sufficient investors.
The dual London-Moscow listing was set to follow Sberbank and MegaFon in coming to the City.
But the bank – 88.3 per cent owned by brothers Dmitry and Alexey Ananyev – said it had cancelled the listing because it disagreed with investors over what see as a “fair price.” They hoped to raise $345m to $414m in London.
But some institutional investors are still believed to be interested in taking a stake in the bank.
Russian firms are keen to list in the City because of its large pool of buyers and the extra confidence in governance the listing brings.
But a banker familiar with the deal believes Russian firms may not fully understand London investors.
“They can underestimate the conservative nature of investors in the City, particularly if the potential buyers do not know a great deal about the firm,” the banker told City A.M.
If Russian firms realise this, they may become less keen on raising funds in London, the source warned.