PRIME-TASS. “Windows” to execute major privatization deals with Russian government-held assets could open either in spring or autumn 2012, Mikhail Butrin, co-head of global investment banking at VTB Capital, said on the sidelines of a Russian M&A congress.
“Windows” will not open soon, this process won’t be swift…either spring or autumn of the next year," he said adding that in principle these “windows” could also be used to sell other major assets.
VTB 24 CEO Mikhail Zadornov said earlier in November that a good time for privatization could be as early as the first quarter of 2012.
Butrin noted on Thursday that, generally, the situation on this market is hard to predict at the moment. “Right now it is difficult to forecast when chances could appear for the restoration of stable, positive trends, but there will be “windows”, he pointed out.
As regards a venue where Russian state-controlled equity stakes of major concerns are to be offered, according to him, if a deal relates to the sale of a major or controlling interest to one party, it doesn’t matter. “If stocks are offered to institutional investors, saving aspiration of Russian exchanges to have these shares placed domestically, primary demand is in the West and Russia won’t do without foreign trading floors, but, at the same time, there could be room for combinations," he explained.
Butrin added that “a company could get listed both on a Russian exchange, in London and in New York…This combination looks realistic and optimal for big privatization deals”.
