Update.21 Sep 2023 09:49
Polymetal is categorically against selling its Russian assets piecemeal
Moscow. September 21. INTERFAX.RU - Polymetal allows for changes in the timing of the sale of Russian business and a discount to the price, but is categorically against selling assets in parts.
“Of course not,” Vitaly Nesis, head of Polymetal, told Interfax in response to a question about the possibility of selling assets in parts. “In fact, of the preliminary expressions of interest that we have received over the past month or so, only two serious proposals related to partial acquisitions. All the others, and there are more than ten of them, were about the company as a whole. We are not even considering selling parts."
Nesis did not comment on the list of interested parties.
“Foreign investors will require some kind of extension of the process (coordination with the authorities - IF), and perhaps then we will not meet the nine-month deadline. But if we have a signed deal, and it’s only a matter of state approval, I think other stakeholders will understand ", - he said.
At the same time, the company hopes that timing risks are not so significant. “We have taken on certain obligations and must fulfill them,” Nesis noted.
“We have some time, not very much, but we have time, so that the deal does not turn out to be an emergency, so that the shareholders of Polymetal International receive a reasonable, decent amount for Russian assets. It is clear that if we look at the situation with a sober look, we cant really hope to achieve same valuation as in 2021. There will be some kind of discount, but it needs to be measured as a percentage, not in multiples," he added, speaking about the price.
Polymetal is Russia's largest silver producer and one of the leading gold miners. The holding's enterprises are located in the Magadan and Sverdlovsk regions, Khabarovsk Territory, Yakutia, Chukotka and Kazakhstan. The largest shareholder is the ICT group of Alexander Nesis and partners (about 24%).
https://www.interfax.ru/business/921907