Russian heli firm’s London IPO takes off April 26, 2011 KREMLIN-backed firm Russian Helicopters has set the price range for its $500m (£304m) joint Moscow and London share offering. The helicopter manufacturer, dominant amongst Russian counterparts, priced its shares and global depository receipts (GDRs) at between $19 and $25 per unit. The deal values the company at between $1.8bn and $2.4bn. Russian Helicopters will sell [...]
TNK-BP oligarch: ‘we could sell stake to BP’ April 26, 2011 A resolution to BP’s ongoing dispute with its Russian partner TNK-BP may be in sight after one of the tycoons in the joint venture said he and others would be willing to sell their stake to BP. Viktor Vekselberg, one of the oligarchs making up the AAR consortium that owns half of the TNK-BP venture, [...]
HSBC axes its Russian retail banking unit April 25, 2011 HSBC has become the latest international lender to pull the plug on its retail operations in Russia, as foreign banks struggle to crack the dominance of the country’s state-backed giants. The London-based bank’s exit follows that of Barclays, which quit its Russian retail banking operation last month. Barclay’s boss Bob Diamond said at the time [...]
Mamut set to table Waterstone’s bid April 25, 2011 RUSSIAN oligarch Alexander Mamut will make a formal bid for struggling high street book chain Waterstone’s as early as this week. The Moscow-based billionaire will mount a cut-price £35m bid for the retailer, which is being sold off by its embattled owner HMV. The bookseller had been valued at between £50m and £75m, yet Mamut [...]
Oligarch’s friendship with chain founder April 25, 2011 BILLIONAIRE bibliophile Alexander Mamut has a long-standing friendship with Tim Waterstone, the founder of the book chain that bears his name. Although it is not yet clear whether they will mount a joint bid for the retailer, the pair have joined forces behind a bookseller in the past. The oligarch and the Englishman formed the [...]
Russian oil group Rosneft launches a share buyback April 20, 2011 RUSSIA’S top crude producer, Rosneft, announced a share buyback programme yesterday as the company continues to negotiate its $16bn (£10bn) share swap deal with BP. Rosneft said it will start with $100m to $200m worth of shares buyback in coming months, sending its share price up 1.7 per cent. The company also said that its [...]
A string of strong earnings reports sends FTSE jumping April 20, 2011 COMMODITY stocks helped power the FTSE 100 index sharply higher yesterday, while earnings from Reckitt Benckiser and Home Retail, following US tech bellwether Intel, boosted risk appetite. The FTSE 100 closed up 125.39 points, or 2.1 per cent, at 6,022.26 following a 0.5 per cent gain on Tuesday. This wiped out Monday’s 2.1 per cent [...]
Nomos shares close up on day one April 19, 2011 Russian private bank Nomos successfully closed its first day as a London-listed company yesterday, with its share price up ten cents to $17.60 (£10.80) per global depository receipt (GDR). Full unconditional trading of the shares is expected to start next Wednesday, after an initial period of conditional trading.
Nomos prices share offer to raise £443m April 18, 2011 RUSSIAN private bank Nomos has priced its London share offer at the higher end of expectations, as the faltering market for listings in the capital begins to show signs of life. Nomos will look to sell ordinary shares in Moscow for $35 (£21) apiece, while it will sell global depository receipts (GDRs) for $17.50 per [...]
Looking for an independent voice on Glencore April 18, 2011 AMONG all the many big beasts advising on the forthcoming flotation of commodities trader Glencore, one firm stands out in its unusualness and lack of big beastliness, and that is Liberum Capital. Liberum is an employee-owned investment bank whose Latin name means independent, whereas the rest of the advisers – including Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, [...]