Roman Abramovich and the company sell Khabarovsk gold to a PIK native

The buyer is Vladislav Sviblova's Fortiana Holdings Limited.
03.08.2020
Kommersant
Origin source
Vladislav Sviblov acquires from Roman Abramovich and partners 40.06% of shares in the Highland Gold mining holding for $ 574.3 million. Shareholders have long been looking for an opportunity to monetize the asset and will finally be able to exit the investment. Thus, another mining asset with good prospects will appear in the portfolio of Mr. Sviblov. At the end of last year, the company tripled its net profit and intends to increase gold production in the coming years.

Vladislav Sviblov, a native of the PIK developer, is expanding his presence in mining and metallurgical assets. His Fortiana Holdings Limited acquired 40.06% of the shares of the Highland Gold mining holding. The sellers were Roman Abramovich, Evgeny Shvidler, Irina Panchenko, Andrey Gorodilov, Alexey Polezhaev, New Evolution Trading Limited, Matteson Overseas Limited and Denalot Worldwide Limited.

The deal was worth $ 3.94 per share, or $ 574.3 million per stake, the parties said in a statement.

The entire company was valued at $ 1.4 billion. Sviblov's company attracts financing for the transaction from VTB. Fortiana should send an offer to Highland Gold minority shareholders to acquire their shares at a price not lower than this.

Roman Abramovich, Evgeny Shvidler and their friendly structures together controlled about 44% of the gold miner. They are selling shares amid a record gold price, which for the first time in history was $ 2,000 an ounce. Highland Gold was established in 2002, when Sibneft shareholders brought the Mnogovershinnoye field to the holding.

Now Highland Gold is one of the ten largest gold mining companies in Russia. The company operates around three main production centers in the Khabarovsk, Trans-Baikal and Chukotka regions.

At the end of 2019, the company's net profit tripled to $ 177.79 million.The company intends to increase production from 300 thousand ounces last year to 350 thousand ounces by 2022. Highland Gold is not the first mining asset to be sold by Roman Abramovich and partners. In 2018, they sold the Baimskoye copper project in Chukotka.

The main asset of Vladislav Sviblov is the Ozernaya Mining Company, which is preparing to develop a lead-zinc deposit in Buryatia. In addition, he controls the Uryumkan gold mining company in the Trans-Baikal Territory. The volume of reserves is 60 tons. Mr. Sviblov owned 4.6% of Petropavlovsk, but sold the shares in June. He called the acquisition of Highland Gold shares "a strategic investment in the creation of a broad portfolio of mining assets in Russia." Vladislav Sviblov believes that the asset has low operating costs, high productivity and experienced management. “The offer received by Highland Gold shareholders for the sale of their shares is an exceptional opportunity to take profit on investments with a significant premium to the market price of the shares,” he notes, adding that the company's potential will be “most fully realized while maintaining public status and maintaining a high liquidity of shares ”.

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