After a first half distinguished by the number of postponed offerings, the second half of 2012 proved relatively hopeful for Russian equity capital markets (ECM). Sberbank’s blockbuster $5.2bn secondary offering, twice oversubscribed, set the tone in September. Then mobile operator MegaFon raised $1.7bn through an initial public offering (IPO) in November 2012.
Both shares are, at the time of writing, trading up compared to their listing price. This provides an optimistic curtain-raiser to 2013, and the Russian government could begin to accelerate its privatisation programme. Potential candidates include IPOs of shipping company Sovcomflot and diamond miner Alrosa, plus a fresh secondary offering from number two bank VTB.
