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Bid book for Alrosa privatization may be closed on July 8 - source

MOSCOW, July 7. /TASS/. The plan is to close the bid book for participation in privatization of a 10.9% stake in Alrosa on Friday, July 8, a source close to the deal told TASS Thursday.

"The plan is to close the book tomorrow, on Friday," he said.

Sberbank as privatization arranger

Sberbank CIB acting as the privatization arranger is receiving bids to buy stock in the diamond miner Alrosa from foreign and Russian investors, the company told TASS.

"We are getting bids from both foreign and Russian investors," the company said.

Sberbank CIB was earlier selected as the sole arranger for privatization of the government stake of 10.9% in Alrosa diamond company.

Price of the stake

Earlier the source told TASS the bid book for participation in the sale of 10.9% of Alrosa shares is filled. "Bookrunners sent a communication to investors this morning that the (bid) book is filled," the source said.

Russia’s diamond producer announced initiation of accelerated preparation of the bid book for participation in the sale of 10.9% of its charter capital (802,781,254 ordinary shares) within the secondary public offering (SPO) on Wednesday.

Following the sale of the state-owned stake the company’s share in free float will rise from 23% to 34%.

Earlier Kommersant business daily wrote that the preliminary price of the stake to be privatized may reach 57 bln rubles, or $ 889 mln. Three funds - OppenheimerFunds, Lazard and Genesis, the company’s minority shareholders that are ready to spend around $450 mln for 5.5% of shares - may become anchor investors. Also, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in cooperation with Arabic and Asian funds has been named among potential investors.

Alrosa’s largest shareholders are the Russian Federation with 44%, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) with 25%, and Yakutian districts with 8%. Around 23% of the company’s shares are in the free float now.

Alrosa, which operates in Russia’s Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is among the top ten of Russia’s most efficient enterprises. The company accounts for 94% of Russia’s overall diamond output, and for 25% in the global diamond production in terms of value. Alrosa’s probable reserves make up about one third of the world’s diamond resources. The company has its own advanced exploration complex enabling it to maintain and expand its proven reserves. Its diamond production equaled 38.3 mln carats in 2015.

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