13 October 2003 01:56
Yukos to list if sell-off falls through OIL:
YukosSibneft, Russia's largest oil group, will push ahead with a full
listing of its shares in New York or London within the next 12 months if it
fails to reach satisfactory terms with a strategic buyer, according to a
person close to the negotiations.
The move would allow the company's large individual Russian shareholders
to cash in on the value of their stakes if they wished, at a time when tough
talks are continuing over the price and terms of rival bids from
multinationals including ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco.
The individual said the prospective buyers were attempting to use the
political uncertainties raised by the intensifying criminal investigations
around Yukos to push down the price, although another person played down this
suggestion.
Yukos has been under investigation by the Russian authorities since the
summer. Fresh raids last week added to perceptions that the investigations
were politically motivated, but that they were focused on the activities of
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Yukos's chief executive, rather than aimed at
deterring foreign investors.
In the strongest sign yet that the Russian government is not opposed to
foreign investment even in the strategic oil sector, Igor Yusufov, energy
minister, said on Friday that he would welcome a purchase - even of a
majority stake - in YukosSibneft by ExxonMobil, considering it a matter of
pride and a way to help develop the country's oil reserves.
One individual close to the talks said that a strategic investment might come
in several stages, stepping from a minority to a majority position of 75 per
cent or more, after allowing time for due diligence and testing the Russian
political reaction.
Bruce Missamore, Yukos financial director, refused to comment on the merger
talks but said merger terms for Sibneft's 8 per cent of residual
minority shareholders "similar or identical to" those for the
majority shareholders already agreed, had yet to be announced.
He said it was possible that a listing of the combined YukosSibneft could
take place as soon as the end of the third quarter 2004, most likely in the
form of level two American Depositary Receipts with full disclosure but no
additional shares.
With oil valuations rising and last week's upgrade of Russian sovereign
debt to investment grade by Moody's, there is increasing pressure on
multinational energy groups to increase their Russian activities.
YukosSibneft, which has just completed its merger, is the last obvious
Russian group available for potential takeover, but with a combined market
capitalisation already above Dollars 50bn, the costs of acquiring even a
significant minority stake, let alone a premium for control, are becoming
very high.
[FTI [The Financial Times]] |
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