Not surprising, given the recent stock market runup in Russia, combined with the Central Bank’s commitment to sell down its entire stake in Moscow Exchange by 2016. Press release went as follows:
Moscow Exchange diversifies investor base after Central Bank sells 11% stake
On 2 July 2014, the Central Bank of Russia announced the sale of an 11% stake in Moscow Exchange to the market. The sale is in line with the Central Bank”s obligation to completely exit the shareholder capital of Moscow Exchange by 1 January 2016.
Commenting on the transaction, Alexander Afanasiev, Chief Executive Officer of Moscow Exchange, said:
“We are delighted to be leading the way in reopening Russia’s capital markets with a ground-breaking transaction for Moscow Exchange. This follows on from a number of successful equity placements on our exchange over the past year, and once again demonstrates the quality and depth of the local market, and the potential for companies to carry out large transactions in local shares.
“With this transaction, we have reached a free float of over 50%, one of the largest in the Russian market, giving us an even more balanced and diverse shareholder base with new high-quality investors from across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the US.
“We are pleased with the investor response to the transaction, which was several times oversubscribed. We take this as a strong endorsement of the Exchange’s ability to deliver growth through the cycle and strategic focus on driving forward the development of Russia”s financial market infrastructure.
“Moscow Exchange is leading by example in demonstrating the opportunities available in domestic and international capital markets for Russian companies with best-practice corporate governance and a solid business model.”
To see the full press release click here.