Domodedovo airport to sell 30 pct stock in London IPO in June

Moscow-based Domodedovo international airport may sell up to 30 percent of its stock in an initial public offering (IPO) in London in June this year, Kommersant business daily reported on Thursday, citing sources close to the IPO lead managers.

The stock will be sold by Domodedovo’s sole owner and chairman of its board of directors Dmitry Kamenshchik who may raise over $1.1 billion from the offering, the paper said.

The placement is expected to be a success, even though seven Russian companies, including steam coal miner SUEK, Russian Helicopters and Evroset mobile phone retailer have abandoned overseas IPO plans since the start of the year, the sources told the paper.

“But in this case, investors will be offered an asset, which by growth rates and financial indicators can be regarded as a global European leader,” a source close to the IPO lead managers told the paper.

Andrei Rozhkov, an analyst from Metropol investment firm, said, however, that the success of the placement was dependent on certain conditions.

“The IPO could be successful, if investors do not take seriously the risks of claims to Domodedovo airport from inspecting authorities and the airport’s low value in case of the government’s attempt to include Domodedovo into an air hub together with Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo,” he said.

The Russian authorities have launched checks on the operation of Domodedovo airport and its ownership structure after operations were paralyzed for several days last December over power outages caused by severe freezing rain and following the suicide bomb attack at the airport in January that killed 37 people and injured dozens more.

In late April, media reported that Domodedovo planned to sell 20-25 percent of its stock for $1 billion in a private offering because the airport’s beneficiaries likely intended to sell the shares to foreign investors to protect their business from possible nationalization and union with Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo.

MOSCOW, May 19 (RIA Novosti) 

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