Chinese energy trader CEFC China Energy can take part in the IPO of Oleg Deripaska En +. This is written by Reuters, citing its sources. CEFC is ready to buy a 5% stake in the company, told "Vedomosti" sources close to different parties to the transaction and potential buyers. The En + estimate for placement is $ 6-8 billion, two interlocutors know. Thus, CEFC can buy the company's shares for $ 300-400 million. In total, Deripaska expected to sell about 20% of the company's shares for $ 1.5 billion. In April, Vedomosti sources called another estimate of the company - $ 8-10 billion.
The "basic element" (which controls the businesses of Deripaska) and CEFC in July signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement, reminds the representative of En +: "In accordance with the agreements reached, the parties analyze various options for partnership." Get the comments of CEFC China Energy failed.
CEFC can become an anchor investor of the forthcoming placement of the company's shares on the London Stock Exchange. En + was preparing for an IPO from the beginning of the year. It is expected that the transaction may take place in October. Investors will be offered in equal shares new and existing shares, Vedomosti's interlocutors say. According to them, En + expects that half of the buyers will be anchor investors.
En + consolidates Deripaska's assets in metallurgy, energy and mining. Among them, 48.13% of UC Rusal, the energy holding Eurosibenergo (owns 95.7% of Krasnoyarsk HPP, 90.5% of Irkutskenergo, etc.), the Krasnoyarsk Metallurgical Plant and the ferromolybdenum producer Soyuzmetallresurs. The En + business is one of the most efficient in Russia, in 2016 its EBITDA margin was 33%. The market leader, Unipro, is 37%. Profitability of the whole En + business is 24.7%.
UC Rusal is one of the most efficient aluminum companies in the world in terms of profitability. En + in UC Rusal on Tuesday at the Hong Kong stock exchange cost $ 5.5 billion, En + share in Irkutskenergo on the Moscow stock exchange - $ 1.3 billion. The money that En + will get from the sale of shares, will go to pay off the company's debt. It is $ 13 billion, of which $ 8 billion is the debt of UC Rusal, and $ 5 billion is from Eurosibenergo, sources close to the placement told Vedomosti.
CEFC was founded in 2002, according to its website. The company started with oil trading, and then grew into one of the largest private companies in China, specializing in energy, investments in oil and gas sectors of different countries, as well as in futures, buying up debts and providing leasing and factoring services, Bloomberg writes. CEFC's annual revenue is $ 40 billion. Russia has recently become interested in CEFC. Last week, it was announced that CEFC will buy from Glencore and Qatar Investment Authority 14.16% of Rosneft, the value of the deal sources Vedomosti estimated at $ 9.1 billion (7.5 billion euros). When the transaction is closed, it was not reported. CEFC is ready to increase its presence in Russia, so it began to explore the possibility of acquiring a stake in En +, writes Reuters.
Probably, CEFC primarily attracted En + energy assets, says Maxim Khudalov, an analyst with ACRA. But for the aluminum business, the time is now good - since August, metal prices have reached three-year highs ($ 2000 per 1 ton). The growing prices for aluminum and coal (Eurosibenergo also owns coal assets) will help with the placement. Interest in En + securities will be both Russian and foreign investors, Khudalov believes.
En + is ready to share success with new shareholders - the company intends to direct a part of the free cash flow to dividends, notes the source of Vedomosti, close to one of the participants in the placement. According to the dividend policy, UC Rusal distributes to shareholders not more than 15% of covenant EBITDA (including dividends, which account for 27.8% of Norilsk Nickel). Since 2008, UC Rusal has twice paid dividends of $ 250 million - for the first nine months of 2015 and nine months in 2016. But on August 24 the board of directors of UC Rusal recommended paying interim dividends in the amount of $ 299.3 million - 20% more than previous payments . In August, Eurosibenergo announced the payment for 2016 of dividends of 6 billion rubles.