Russia to Reduce Stake in Diamond Miner ALROSA

Reuters reported that Russia has decided to cut its stake in ALROSA (MCX:ALNU) via a share sale expected to be worth up to $1.8 billion. Fourteen percent of ALROSA’s shares will be sold by Russia’s federal and regional governments, while another 2 percent will be sold by a subsidiary of the company.

As quoted in the market news:

Alrosa is already listed on the Moscow stock exchange, with a free-float of around 9 percent. But only a small amount of those shares are actively traded and the market is illiquid.

That accounts for a market value of just over $8 billion, based on current trading, compared with the target valuation implied by the share sale, according to a banking source, of between $10 billion and $11 billion.

A separate source familiar with the deal said Alrosa was targeting a valuation of more than $10 billion. Alrosa declined to comment, though in May CEO Fyodor Andreev put the value at between $9 billion and $15 billion.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.