UPDATE: TMK to sell shares at 75 rbl/paper in SPO, raise 10.4 bln rbl

(Adds comment, details in fourth, last paragraphs)

MOSCOW, Feb 3 (PRIME) -- Russian oil and gas pipe maker TMK plans to sell 139 million common shares at 75 rubles per paper during a secondary public offering (SPO) to raise about 10.417 billion rubles from the placement, the company said in a statement on Friday.

On Tuesday, TMK said it launched the SPO to offer up to 139 million common shares corresponding to 13.44% of the company’s capital. Initially, the company guided investors for a pre-market placement price of no less than 74.5 rubles per security, but during bookbuilding it narrowed the guidance to 74.5–75 rubles. The bid book closed at 7.00 p.m. Moscow time on Thursday.

On Thursday, a banking source told PRIME that the bid book was oversubscribed at 75 rubles per share.

“We believe that the SPO is successful, as the shares were valued above the initially price. We attracted a large amount of new foreign and Russian investors. We expect the SPO to increase liquidity of our shares in the future, which will have a positive impact on our shareholders,” TMK said citing CEO Alexander Shiryayev as saying.

The company’s subsidiary Rockarrow Investments Limited will sell the shares, and TMK will spend the money to buy back its shares from VTB Bank under an option. The buyback volume will not exceed funds raised in the SPO.

Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, VTB Capital and Aton act as organizers of the placement.

In 2015, TMK signed a deal to sell about 10 billion rubles worth of shares to VTB Bank. TMK Deputy CEO for Strategy Vladimir Shmatovich said the bank already owned an 8% quasi-treasury stake in the company, and the shares were sold at a market price. The remaining part of the stake was transferred to the bank in 2016, and the deal’s conditions envisaged the right of TMK to buy the shares back.

(59.9858 rubles – U.S. $1)

End