| FGD and Deutsche Bank issued depository receipts for its shares Sberbank shares are entering world markets, despite the cool attitude towards this on the part of management. As announced yesterday, the United Financial Group (UFG) has finally implemented for its clients the long-announced program to issue global depositary receipts (GDRs) for Sberbank shares. Deutsche Bank, which recently became a major shareholder in the FGD, helped her in this. Sberbank did not participate in the program.
This news made a stunning impression on investors: Sberbank shares on the RTS soared by more than 5%. Foreigners have long been waiting for the launch of the GDR program: receipts, unlike shares, can be purchased by an unlimited number of investors. In addition, non-residents wishing to buy Sber shares must still obtain permission from the Central Bank. No such permission is required to purchase receipts.
FGD and Deutsche Bank reported the placement of GDRs for 250 thousand 997 ordinary shares of the bank (1.32%) in the amount of approximately $110 million. “The GDRs have not been registered with the American Securities and Exchange Commission and cannot be offered for sale in the United States "- noted in the joint press release of the FGD and Deutsche Bank. Meanwhile, according to the analytical report of the FGD, “at the initial stage, 4.9% of Sberbank’s ordinary shares participate in the program, but this figure may increase to 19.9% (the fact is that, according to the law, the acquisition of a stake in banks with a volume of more than 20% requires permission from the Central Bank. - Ed. ) “This is a common practice of depository banks when organizing such programs,” Marina Kraschenko, director for stock markets of the corporate finance department of the FGD, explained to the Vremya Novostei newspaper. “We carried out a split with a conversion ratio of 1 share = 10 ADR, which in our opinion will increase liquidity.” According to her, the demand for participation in the program has significantly exceeded the supply.
However, according to an investment analyst who wished to remain anonymous, given the volume of Sberbank’s free float, the limit of 19.9% is unlikely to be chosen. In general, experts consider the FGD program “the best gift for investors” and now expect that the next step will be to reduce the share of its main shareholder, the Central Bank, in Sberbank. Aton analyst Alex Kantarovich says the absence of the program “sent signals to investors that Sberbank is a non-market company.” Now the Sberbank share market will grow on expectations of actions on the part of the Central Bank in relation to its Sber shares. Vladimir Savov from NIKoil notes that recently “the Central Bank has been very willing to issue permits” to non-residents to purchase Sberbank shares.
Sberbank representatives could not be reached for comment yesterday. As is known, FGD a year ago negotiated with management about participation in this program. The negotiations ended in nothing. “The management clearly does not seek to increase the liquidity of the Sberbank share market,” says Mr. Savov, “Perhaps it believes that the current turnover is quite enough.” It is possible that Andrei Kazmin is not satisfied with the fact that a fairly large stake already belongs to foreigners - according to the latest data from Sberbank, non-residents own about 18% of its shares.
FGD analysts comment on the group’s program as follows: “We assess this news as very positive for Sberbank. The increase in liquidity as a result of the launch of the GDR program compared to the liquidity of securities allowed for purchase by non-residents should lead to a decrease in the discount rate used in valuing bank shares. In addition, the discount in the bank’s valuation compared to other similar companies should also decrease.” Yuri VERETENNIKOV |
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