MOSCOW (MRC) - SIBUR's petrochemical holding is unlikely to go to an IPO this year, RBC reports, citing the words of its largest shareholder, NOVATEK CEO Leonid Mikhelson at SPIEF-2021.
"The IPO of SIBUR this year is unlikely, most likely it will happen in 2022. We will accelerate with this issue," the businessman said. L. Mikhelson added that in September SIBUR will close the deal to acquire 51% of the shares of TAIF Group. The remaining 49% stake will be purchased later.
SIBUR began preparations for the placement of its shares on the stock exchange in 2018. The company has hired several banks to advise on the matter, but the exact timing and details of the IPO were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, due to the declining interest of international investors in the Russian stock market, given the deteriorating geopolitical background, these plans were not implemented. The head of the company, Dmitry Konov, said that SIBUR expects the best combination of three factors to enter the IPO: financial reporting, the state of the industrial and financial markets.
In February, the company's CFO Peter O'Brien reported that SIBUR had decided to postpone going public and focus on exporting products to Asian markets, primarily Chinese.
"Now we cannot announce anything. It would be fair to say that this IPO is definitely one of the options and shareholders will continue to evaluate it, but there is currently no such plan," said the top manager.
He added that the IPO could take place closer to the opening of the Amur gas chemical complex under construction on the border with China, the construction of which should be completed in 2024.
SIBUR Holding is the leader in the Russian petrochemical industry and one of the largest global companies in the sector with more than 23 thousand employees. In 2019, SIBUR's revenues amounted to USD 8.2 billion, EBITDA - USD2.6 billion. Over the past 10 years, SIBUR has implemented a number of large-scale investment projects worth about RUB 1 trillion.
MRC