Russia's Otkritie Financial Corporation, 20-percent owned by lender VTB, has mothballed plans for an initial public offering and expects markets to remain tough for perhaps five years, its chairman told Reuters. Otkritie, a holding company that owns a brokerage house, fund manager and commercial and investment banks, had been considering floating a 20 percent stake in late 2012.
But Europe's sovereign debt crisis has sapped interest in such assets across the world, including in Russia, where state-controlled market leader Sberbank has delayed a share offering despite its strong balance sheet and profitability. "Given the current market situation, we can't expect interest in Russian (financial) institutions. We don't plan an IPO in 2012-13 at the moment. It makes no sense," Otkritie Chairman Boris Mints said in an interview. Mints, who owns a 30 percent stake in Otkritie and is estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth $600 million, said he would cut his stake in any share offering and expected VTB to do the same.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.