Russian business daily Vedomosti cited sources who said the target schedule of oil firm Bashneft's initial public offering would be in the fall next year. The sources reportedly added that the management had already been tasked to make preparations for the share sale. Bashneft was targeting for a London Stock Exchange listing, the report said.
In a Moscow Times report, Bashneft President Alexander Korsik and the chairman of the board of AFK Sistema Vladimir Yevtushenkov hinted that the oil firm would be conducting an IPO later this year or in early 2014. AFK Sistema is Bashneft's main shareholder. Morever, Raiffaisen Bank analyst Andrei Polishchuk said the market situation and the oil firm's performance indicated that the next bes course was to do a float. Polishchuk added that the Nashneft's good financial results and its high dividend earnings could attract investors. The current capitalization of Bashneft was at RUB407 billion or USD12.5 billion based on its closing price on Monday at the Moscow Stock Exchange.
Investment fund IFD Capital analyst Vitaly Kryukov said on the other hand that Bashneft was most likely seeking for a 10% to 15% capitalization increase from its current placement. However, Bashneft needed to convince its investors that the company was capable of increasing its output, Kryukov said. Kryukov noted that Bashneft's processing capacity was at 24 million tons of oil annual and that its production capacity was only 15 million tons of oil annually.
An unnamed source close to Bashneft said that a reason on why a float was planned was to decrease the risk of a hostile takeover. Former Rosneft president Eduard Khudainatov's The Independent Oil and Gas Company or NKK had shown an interest in Bashneft's assets and might acquire the latter on behalf of the state-controlled company. Investment company Ankorinvest analyst Sergei Vakhrameyev said a completed appraisal of Bashneft and the listing of the oil company in London would reduce the chances of a hostile takeover because by then, a potential buyer would have to enter into a discussion to negotiate a possible deal with Bashneft.
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