A GLG Partners unit delayed an initial public offering of Russian coal miner Sibanthracite Plc, citing market conditions and sentiment toward mining stocks.
The company had insufficient investor demand on the last day of the sale, said three people familiar with the process. GLG Emerging Markets Growth Fund may consider selling its stake in the Sibanthracite off the market, one of the people said, asking not to be named as the details aren’t public yet.
GLG Emerging Markets Growth Fund, a unit of the $27 billion U.K. investment fund, had attempted to sell a 25 percent stake in the supplier of high-grade anthracite coal at $7 to $9.50 per depositary receipt.
“It’s very hard to sell shares of such a company when its product prices are expected to continue falling,” said Kirill Bagachenko, who manages about $3 billion in Russian equities at TKB BNP Paribas Investment Partners in St. Petersburg. “There’s a drop in demand and an oversupply in the mining and coal sectors.”
OAO Pharmstandard, Russia’s largest pharmaceutical company lost about half its market value this week after saying it was buying Singapore-based Bever Pharmaceutical Pte Ltd. without disclosing why. That affected views on Russia while Sibanthracite was seeking investors, two people said.
“Sibanthracite attracted significant interest and positive feedback,” the company said in a statement. “However, current market conditions and investor sentiment towards the global mining sector led to the decision to postpone.”
The IPO would have been the first by a Russian company in the U.K. this year. Russian railroad-freight carrier NTS Holding Plc postponed a London IPO of as much as $500 million in January, citing market conditions.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, Raiffeisen Bank International and Sberbank CIB managed Sibanthracite’s IPO.
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