Mostotrest launches international share offering

Russian infrastructure contractor Mostotrest has announced plans to raise up to US$ 496 million by way of a new share offering. The deal will see the company's majority shareholder, Marc O'Polo Investments Ltd dilute its holding.

Commenting on the offering, Mostotrest CEO Vladimir Vlasov said, "We believe that our offering provides investors with an attractive opportunity to gain exposure to the growing Russian transport infrastructure construction sector, which is set to benefit from large scale public investment and increasing private funding."

The deal will see Marc O'Polo sell up to 62.06 million shares in the company, representing 25% of the contractor's capital. The contractor will then issue 62.06 new shares by way of an open offer, which Marc O'Polo has the first right of refusal on. However, the company is only expected to take up about 40% of these new shares, giving Mostotrest a free float of between 34.8% and 36.7% of its equity.

The company says it will use the proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, including the purchase of equipment.

Mostotrest says it has a 7.8% share of the new-build Russian infrastructure market, and is also the country's largest bridge engineering company. As of June 30 it had an order backlog of RUR 201 billion (US$ 6.6 billion), with projects in its portfolio such as the fourth Moscow ring road, sections of the M-10 toll road between Moscow and St Petersburg and various projects around the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.