MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian steel pipemaker TMK said on Thursday it was launching a secondary public offering (SPO) of around 15 million ordinary shares at a price range between 205 and 235 roubles ($2.13-$2.44) per share.
Russian share offerings have been rare since Moscow despatched troops to Ukraine in February 2022. Electric scooter firm Whoosh was the only Russian firm to hold an initial public offering (IPO) in 2022, but its debut raised less than half its initial target and relied heavily on Russian retail investors for capital.
TMK said the placement would strengthen its position on equity capital markets by bringing in new investors, raising the number of its free-float shares and increasing liquidity.
"In addition, increasing free-float will be a step on the road to TMK shares being included in the calculation base for a series of Moscow Exchange indexes," TMK said in a statement.
TMK Steel Holding, which owns 90.6% of TMK's shares, will offer shares equating to around 1.5% of TMK's total shares in the SPO, TMK said. The final offer price will be set no later than Sept. 29.
Investors who participate in the SPO will be entitled to purchase one additional share at the SPO price six months after the offer's completion, TMK said.
After the SPO is completed, TMK will hold an additional share issue by private subscription and the funds raised by its shareholder TMK Steel Holding will be channelled to TMK.
Cash raised by the company will be used to reduce debt and for other corporate purposes, TMK said.
TMK's Moscow-listed shares were trading at around 222 roubles per piece as of 0718 GMT, down 2.6% on the day.
($1 = 96.4175 roubles)