Petropavlovsk says sells 31.1% in IRC Ltd for $12.24 mln

MOSCOW, Dec 6 (PRIME) -- Russian gold producer Petropavlovsk Plc has sold its entire 31.1% stake in ore mining company IRC Ltd for U.S. $12.24 million, Petropavlovsk said in a statement on Monday.

The company sold 29.9% in IRC to investment company Stocken Board AG for $10 million, even though the majority shareholder of IRC Uzhuralzoloto had demanded revision of the deal or its cancellation, and even filed a suit to the High Court of Justice in London. But the court sided with Petropavlovsk, and the deal went through.

The remaining 1.2% in IRC were sold to a subsidiary of investment company UCP of Ilya Shcherbovich for $2.24 million. The price was calculated on the basis of the market price as of November 15 with a 10% discount.

Petropavlovsk has repeatedly said that the company wanted to get away from a guarantee to Gazprombank under a loan taken out by IRC, and wanted to sell the stake with this goal in mind. Petropavlovsk CEO Denis Alexandrov said that the deal reduces financial risks and improves credit figures of the company.

End %%md/jst%%