Russian stocks close mixed pressured by Magnit, Norilsk Nickel

MOSCOW, Feb 16 (PRIME) -- The Russian stock market closed mixed on Friday pressured by a transaction that made state-owned VTB Bank and the core owner in Magnit retailer and a spat between metals giant Norilsk Nickel owners, analysts said.

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.45% to 2,255.27 and the RTS grew 0.08% to 1,263.27.

“Serious events are happening in Russian business. The VTB group has signed an agreement with Magnit’s founder Sergei Galitsky to acquire his 29.1% stake… The market will evaluate the consequences later, but the very fact of the sale seems suspicious,” Otkritie Broker analyst Andrei Kochetkov said.

Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofya Kirsanova said that the transaction was a surprise for the market and many investors were frightened with Galitsky’s decision to leave the company after more than 20 years of leadership.

Another negative story was that minority shareholders were dissatisfied with the size of the deal, which is below a 30% threshold for an obligatory buyout. The stock sagged 7.77% to 4,473 rubles.

Norilsk Nickel was an even bigger loser sliding 8.27% to 10,810 rubles on the news that tycoon Vladimir Potanin’s Interros, the owner of 30.3% in Norilsk Nickel, offered to buy a stake in the company from Crispian Investments Ltd, affiliated with Roman Abramovich and his partners, but a subsidiary of RUSAL, the owner of 27.8% in Norilsk Nickel, filed a suit to a London court demanding suspension of the deal.

Kirsanova said that these two shares were to be blamed for uncertainty on the Russian market despite a generally positive foreign background and rising oil prices.

Below are the MOEX Russia Index’s five most active stocks on Friday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	+0.91%	266.99	13.788
Norilsk Nickel	-8.27%	10810	12.551
Magnit	-7.77%	4473	12.166
Gazprom	0%	137.06	3.402
Lukoil	+0.56%	3751	3.006

(56.5918 rubles – U.S. $1)

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