Russian Billionaire’s Nordgold Plans London IPO 

(Bloomberg) -- Russian miner Nord Gold Plc announced plans to hold an initial public offering in London after the price of gold climbed to the highest in nearly five months.

The company, known as Nordgold, expects to have a free float of at least 25%, and also plans a secondary listing in Moscow, it said on Thursday. It won’t sell new shares but Nordgold said an IPO would widen its options for raising capital and help the company to retain key managers.

Investor interest in gold producers surged after bullion prices rose to a record last year. However, a subsequent decline in prices led another Russian gold miner, GV Gold PJSC, to put its planned share sale on hold indefinitely in March.

“Following a record year in 2020, and with a low cost, low risk development pipeline centred on the highly prospective Gross Region in Russia, now is the right time for Nordgold to seek a premium London listing,” Chief Executive Officer Nikolai Zelenski said in a statement Thursday

Nordgold, controlled by the family of Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov, has operations in West Africa, Kazakhstan and Russia. It delisted from the U.K. bourse in 2017 after the board said it wasn’t fairly valued by investors.

Mordashov, 55, transfered 65% of Nordgold to two of his older sons in 2019. The younger of them, Nikita, was expelled from university this year and will serve his term in the army, leaving his brother Kirill temporarily in control of the stake. A spokeswoman for Mordashov said this was a “technical deal” within the family.

Joint Coordinators

Bacchus Capital Advisers is acting as financial adviser on the IPO, while Citigroup Inc. is sponsor for the offer. Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and VTB Capital are the joint global coordinators and bookrunners for the sale.

Should Nordgold proceed with the IPO, it will apply for admission of its shares to the premium listing segment of the official list of the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange’s main market.

Europe’s pipeline for initial public offerings from commodities companies looks the strongest in a decade, as the prospect of an economic recovery is fueling a boom in raw materials. Broker Marex Group Plc started taking orders for its London IPO on Wednesday, while Reuters reported Tuesday that Allied Gold Corp. is preparing to float in the City this year.

Read More: IPOs Aiming to Ride Commodity Boom Spark 2011 Deja Vu: ECM Watch

Russian listings are also having a banner year, with the value of IPOs on track to be the highest since before President Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea in 2014.

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