KOMMERSANT. During the initial public offering (IPO) in New York leading Russian instant payment operator QIWI was valued at $884 mln. QIWI shares went for $17.00 a share, i.e. in the middle of the previously set price band ($16—18). The company’s shareholders managed to earn $212.5 mln on the sale of their holdings.
The company itself took no part in the IPO as the shares were sold by its shareholders. As the company said in an IPO prospectus, Mail.ru Group divested 3 mln shares for $51.7 mln, which reduced its equity interest to 15.5% and 19.8% of the votes. During the offering Japan’s Mitsui & Co. sold 1.86 mln shares for $31.6 mln, after whicts equity stake fell to 11.3% of the shares and 14.4% of the votes.
Antana International Corporation, which is owned by QIWI board chairman Andrei Romanenko and his father Nikolai Romanenko, sold 2.8 mln shares for $47.7 mln, having reduced its holding from 12.7% to 7.3% and 9.3% of the votes. Palmway Holdings Limited, a company owned by QIWI board member Andrei Muraviev, divested 1.88 mln shares for $32 mln, retaining 4.9% of the shares and 6.2% of the votes. Dargle International Limited, an entity owned by QIWI board member Igor Mikhailov, sold 971,000 for $16.5 mln (2.5% of the shares and 3.2% of the votes).
E1 Limited, a company belonging to Boris Kim, Gennady Babkin and Alexei Korepanov, sold 953,000 shares for $16.2 mln (6.6% of the shares and 8.4% of the votes). Sergei Fedyushchenko’s Bralvo Limited divested 971,000 shares for $16.5 mln (2.5% of the shares and 3.2% of the votes). QIWI’s largest shareholder Saldivar Investments Limited (25.4% of the shares and 32.4% of the votes), which is owned by QIWI general director Sergei Solonin, took no part in the IPO.
“Expectations of all shareholders were met,“ Andrei Muraviev told Kommersant business daily while commenting on the IPO’s results. According to him, during the IPO the instant payment operator’s shares were oversubscribed by 5.5x and, in the upshot, the company obtained a “very wide” list of minority shareholders. “80% of the new shareholders are US long only funds and hedge funds that inject money just in hi-tech and payment sectors, i.e. they are core investors,” said Muraviev. IPO proceeds will be invested in the Russian economy, he pointed out. Andrei Romanenko told the paper that he plans to allocate the money “solely to the Internet and new technologies”. Igor Mikhailov noted that he also plans to invest proceeds in Internet projects.
