Fundraising

Russian ports operator raises $588m in London IPO

Global Ports Investments, which handles 30% of all Russian container traffic, has successfully listed on the London Stock Exchange, marking the first, post-crisis IPO of a Russian transport company. The EBRD was an investor, paying $70m for a near-3% stake in the ports operator.

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Ports operator Global Ports Investments (GPI), Russia’s leading container and oil products terminals operator, has raised $588 million following a successful listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it was one of the investors in the public listing, paying $70 million for a 2.98 percent share in the ports operator. Following the listing – which the EBRD called the “first transport and infrastructure IPO from Russia and Eastern Europe since the 2008-2009 financial crisis” – GPI’s free float capital stands at 25 percent.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International, Morgan Stanley and Troika Dialog acted as joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners on the listing, GPI said in a statement. GPI plans to use the funds raised from the listing to improve its Russian infrastructure.

GPI says that 30 percent of all container traffic going through Russian ports passes through the company’s container terminals while its oil products terminals handle 28 percent of fuel exports from the countries of the former Soviet Union. In 2010, the group’s total container throughput grew by 81 percent compared with 2009.

The ports operator’s consolidated revenues for the year ended December 31, 2010 was $382 million, a 39 percent increase compared with the previous year. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for last year amounted to about €207 million, a 58 percent increase compared with 2009.

GPI is part of a larger Russian transport group known as N-Trans.