PBN RELEASES QUARTERLY REVIEW OF RUSSIAN & CIS IPOS

London, Moscow, Kyiv & Almaty – Q4 2008, for the first time since Q3 2004, saw no initial public offerings (IPOs) by companies from Russia and other nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), according to research issued by The PBN Company, the strategic communications consultancy. 

Furthermore, H2 2008 was the slowest six month period in terms of CIS IPO activity since H2 2003 – only one company, Russian fertilizer company Acron, floating during the second half of the year, raising just $2.7 million in August.

“Given the drastic decline in equity market activity worldwide, it is not surprising that companies from Russia and the CIS have chosen to bide their time,” said Peter B. Necarsulmer, Chairman & CEO of The PBN Company.  “An IPO is now part of a medium to long term strategy for companies from the region, as they wait for international and domestic markets to recover and investor confidence to rebound.”

Although there was no IPO activity in Q4, one company did raise funds in the equity markets – Russian retailer Dixy, which floated on Russian exchanges in 2007, raised $52 million in an additional share sale on November 24, 2008.   In addition,  Concern Tractor Plants, Russia's largest manufacturer of tractors and industrial machinery, completed a technical listing of global depository receipts on December 29, 2008, that raised no additional capital.

Download the Quarterly Russia and CIS IPO Review - Issue 4.

About The PBN Company

The PBN Company is the leading strategic and financial communications and government relations consultancy with a focus on Russia & the CIS. Its IPO Pioneers series of research products, available on its website (www.pbnco.com), provides an annual in-depth survey of all flotations by CIS companies. The most recent volume, IPO Pioneers 3, is a comprehensive review and analysis of all 33 Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh IPOs in 2007. PBN’s IPO research is also available on Bloomberg Professional under the ticker PBNC.

The company has offices in Almaty, Kyiv, London, Moscow and Washington DC. In 2007 The PBN Company advised on the IPOs of Bank Saint-Petersburg, Ferrexpo, M.video and MMK. PBN was named joint winner of the IPO Communications Advisor of the Year award at the 2007 Russian IPO Olymp Awards, organized by the Stock Market and Management Institute (IFRU).

PBN’s recent clients in the region include Alliance Bank of Kazakhstan, Baltic Beverages Holdings, Bank Saint-Petersburg, Basic Element, BP, Chagala Group, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Dragon Capital, Enel, Ferrexpo, Horizon Capital, Knight Frank, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, M.video, Nordstream, Pepsi, Pharmacy Chain 36.6, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Renaissance Group, Rolf Group of Companies, Rosneft, Sberbank, Sony Pictures, Telenor and UkrEximBank.

In 2007 PBN was named Eastern Europe Consultancy of the Year by The Holmes Report and became a member of the WPP group of companies.