posted
Anyone know anything about this? Possible $20 billion IPO, more oil in the ground than Exxon-Mobil? Been following a while but can't seem to get any info on it. Being underwritten by Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan, among others. ADRs currently trading for $2.25. RNGZY is symbol.
-------------------- There are those for whom such life makes all other existence seem tame! Posts: 52 | From: Alabama | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
This is the source of my info. Should have posted it first. Sorry.
Rosneft clears the decks for $20bn IPO (Filed: 23/04/2006)
It will probably be standing room only when Sergei Bogdanchikov, the president of Rosneft, the state-owned oil company, takes the floor tomorrow at the first session of the Russian Economic Forum. The forthcoming initial public offering of Rosneft is being seen as a litmus test of Western investors' appetite for Russia.
The IPO, which may come as early as July, could be the biggest in history. The sale of 49 per cent of Rosneft's shares is expected to raise up to $20bn (£11.2bn) but if successful it will be seen by many as a seal of market approval for the methods used by the Kremlin to gain control of strategic assets such as natural resources.
Rosneft owes its transformation into one of Russia's largest oil companies to the Kremlin's de facto confiscation of the main production unit of Yukos. Once Russia's largest oil company and a favourite among foreign investors, Yukos was slapped with $28bn in back-tax claims and then saw its main asset taken over by Rosneft at the end of 2004 after a -government-forced auction.
It has not all been plain sailing. The company's chief financial officer, who had been the main point of contact for the advisers in the IPO, quit abruptly in February after what some said was a conflict with Bogdanchikov. Last month, Rosneft announced it had hired Peter O'Brien, an American investment banker who had been working on the IPO for Morgan Stanley, one of the underwriters, as chief financial officer.
Rosneft shocked investors last week when it unveiled plans to consolidate its main subsidiaries. It presented conversion ratios for minority shareholders in subsidiaries to swap their shares for Rosneft stock and cash alternatives. Some investors complained that the valuations were well below market prices.
But despite such concerns, early indications are that foreign investors are getting ready to flash their cash. Advisers to the IPO, including Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan Chase, recently took Bogdanchikov on a roadshow with potential investors. At the presentation in London, Bogdanchikov talked about Rosneft's unique position - it has more crude oil in the ground than US giant Exxon-Mobil - and its production is rising steadily. According to the participants, none of the guests raised the spectre of Yukos.
Bogdanchikov is unlikely to get away without being asked about the subject at the forum tomorrow, but the odds are that he will soon be the president of a publicly listed company.
-------------------- There are those for whom such life makes all other existence seem tame! Posts: 52 | From: Alabama | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
I'm curious now. Nord Oil (NDOL), which is a Russian company, has a supposed buyer and the stock is taking off. That buyer is supposed to be annouced soon. I wonder if there's a connection between these two?
Posts: 81 | From: Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
I could be wrong, but wouldn't it be unwise to offer an IPO BEFORE acquiring the company? I don't think there's a connection (other than Russia).
-------------------- May your trading build your character as well as your portfolio. Posts: 1763 | Registered: Jan 2005
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