AvtoVAZ: Renault, Rostec preparing to buy out minority shareholders (translated)
18 MAY 2018
French automotive group Renault [EPA:RNO ] and Russian state corporation Rostec are preparing to buy out Russian automaker AvtoVAZ ’s [MCX:AVAZ] minority shareholders via their joint venture Alliance Rostec Auto BV, Vedomosti and Kommersant reported.
The Russian newspapers cited Sergey Skvortsov, Chairman of the AvtoVAZ Board of Directors.
Alliance Rostec Auto BV – which owns a controlling stake in AvtoVAZ – will next week submit documents to Russia's Central Bank in relation to a voluntary offer to AvtoVAZ’s minority shareholders, Skvortsov stated.
The offer to minority shareholders may be announced in May, Kommersant reported.
The offer price, which is determined by law, will be based on a six-month trading average, Vedomosti reported citing Skvortsov.
Experts estimated the cost of buying out minority shareholders at RUB 22.7bn (USD 365.2m) based on the average weighted price of AvtoVAZ for the past six months, according to the reports. Approximately RUB 15.5bn will be spent to acquire a stake from Renaissance Securities (Cyprus), which is AvtoVAZ's largest minority shareholder with an about 11.5% stake, the items added, citing a VTB Capital analyst.
Alliance Rostec Auto increased its stake in AvtoVAZ to 83.5% stake in Spring, according to Vedomosti.
The recapitalization of AvtoVAZ will be completed in October 2018, the papers further said.
Skvortsov also stated that the Rostec/Renault JV will be preserved, and the co-owners of the joint venture do not plan to own AvtoVAZ directly, the papers reported.
AvtoVAZ posted RUB 225.6bn revenue and RUB 9.7bn loss in 2017 under IFRS, according to Kommersant, citing the company's records.
AvtoVAZ has a market cap of RUB 147.45bn (USD 2.37bn).
Link to original source (Vedomosti report behind paywall)
Link to original source (Kommersant)