MOSCOW - Shareholders of Russia's GV Gold, including US fund BlackRock, aim to raise $450-million to $560-million by selling about 37% of the mid-sized gold miner through an initial public offering (IPO) in Moscow.
GV Gold on Tuesday set its IPO price range at 1 650 to 2 050 roubles ($21.74 to $27.01) per share, implying a market capitalisation of 90.7-billion to 112.7-billion roubles ($1.2-billion to $1.5-billion).
It said the bookbuilding would start on Tuesday and continue until around March 29, with the final offering price expected to be announced on or around March 30.
Trading on the Moscow Exchange was expected to commence on March 30, GV Gold, one of Russia's 10 largest gold miners, said in a statement.
Ordinary shares will be offered by core shareholders - Sergey Dokuchaev, Natalia Opaleva, and Valerian Tikhonov, who own a combined 61.2% of shares, as well as BlackRock which has an 18% stake.
The founding shareholders will retain a significant interest after the IPO, the company said.
GV Gold plans to increase production to up to 300,000 troy ounces this year from 272 000 in 2020 and reach 400 000 ounces per year by 2025.
Its dividend policy envisages the payment of 40% of its Ebitda as long as its leverage does not exceed 1.5x. Its adjusted Ebitda doubled to $248-million last year on higher sales and gold prices, while net debt fell 6% to $19- million.