Petropavlovsk was reminded of the founder

A third of shareholders demand to return Pavel Maslovsky.
21.05.2018
Kommersant
Origin source
In the gold-mining Petropavlovsk again the leadership can change. Its largest shareholder, Kenes Rakishev (22.4%), agreed with the proposal of minority shareholders to return to the company of its co-founder Pavel Maslovsky and two other members of the board of directors. According to Kommersant, the idea is supported by Prosperity Capital Management, which recently bought about 6% of the shares. Sources of Kommersant in the industry say that the gold miner may return to the idea of ​​merging with Musur Bazhayev's Amur Gold.

Kazakh businessman Kenes Rakishev, who owns a 22.4% stake in Petropavlovsk (9.08% pledged for VTB repo, and potentially 6.83% of votes in convertible bonds), notified the gold mining company that supports the offer of its minority shareholders CABS Platform Ltd. and Slevin Ltd. (together own 9.11% of shares) on re-election of the board of directors. The shareholders' meeting will consider this issue at the end of June.

Minorities in early May said they would vote for the return to the company of Pavel Maslovsky, its co-founder and almost permanent director general (except for 2011-2014, when he was a senator from the Amur region), as well as independent directors Roderick Lain and Robert Jenkins. In an interview with Kommersant on May 11, Kenes Rakishev said that this idea was a "complete surprise" for him, and reminded: "Previously, corporate contradictions prevented the company from developing."

On Friday, May 18, Kenes Rakishev told Kommersant that he had repeatedly stated that Petropavlovsk was undervalued and hoped that the current board of directors would provide the leadership and vision necessary to change the market's view of the company and its prospects. "However, this did not happen for a number of reasons," the businessman said. "I agree with the opinion of new shareholders, although we came to this independently, that the company needs a different board of directors." But Mr. Rakishev is against the exit of the council of his Fincraft representative Bektas Mukazhanov.

The investors were inspired by the possible castles: the capitalization of Petropavlovsk on the LSE increased by 4.25%, to £ 227 million ($ 306 million).
The current board of directors of Petropavlovsk was formed back in 2017, Renova Viktor Vekselberg and supported the group of investment funds, which have achieved the resignation of the former team, including Pavel Maslovski and second co-founder Petropavlovsk Peter Hambro. But at the end of 2017, Renova sold its stake in the company to Mr. Rakishev, and in May, almost the entire share in 6.8% was sold by the Prudential group - the buyer of most of the securities, according to Kommersant, Prosperity Capital Management made a statement (it confirms, that they became a shareholder of the company without revealing the details).

Owners of CABS Platform and Slevin are not disclosed, the company received shares of Petropavlovsk from ATB (originally bought 9.11% Slevin), and these papers were put in the bank by the structure of Messrs. Maslovsky and Hambro, who did not realize the option to buy out. Data sources "b" about the beneficiaries of CABS Platform and Slevin vary: some talk about Asian investors, others - about Far Eastern businessmen.

Kommersant sources familiar with the situation note that Kenes Rakishev, who initially supported the return of Pavel Maslovsky, did not have relations with the board of directors of the gold miner, which resulted in, inter alia, the appointment of Roman Deniskin as the company's CEO.

Two interlocutors of Kommersant heard that Mr. Rakishev could act in the interests of the owner of the Alliance group, Musa Bazhaev, who in 2016 agreed with Petropavlovsk to merge the company with his Amur Gold. Kenes Rakishev, in an interview with Kommersant, said that he was guided exclusively by the company's undervaluation, and it makes sense to return to M & A transactions after completion of the autoclave (POX).

The source of Kommersant, close to the Alliance, says that the merger prospects have not been completely rejected, but the initiative should come from Petropavlovsk.

Prosperity, according to Kommersant, is not against the return of Pavel Maslovsky, but M & A is more cautious. Officially, companies do not comment on this topic.

Oleg Petropavlovskiy from BCS believes that merging with Amur Gold will make sense for Petropavlovsk if the first company provides additional cash flow and reserves of refractory ore for processing at POX, and Mr. Bazhayev will help the combined player to attract financing for development. Pavel Maslovsky's experience is useful in completing the autoclave, agrees the analyst, but even if the company launches it at the end of the year, what the market doubts, at full capacity the POX will go out for several years.

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