The Kerimovs may purchase shares of other investors in Polyus Gold

Suleiman Kerimov and his son Said may become the sole owners of the largest Russian gold producer Polyus Gold: structures of Kerimov Jr. announced their readiness to buy shares from the other shareholders. This may take about $5.4 billion, a source of these funds is not called. The consolidation of Polyus in the hands of the Kerimovs was expected by the market for a long time. Sources of the Kommersant don’t rule out that after the purchase of the company it will be sold, or, on the contrary, Mr. Karimov wants to attract new partners in Polyus. But, according to the Kommersant’s information, such prospect wasn’t discussed with the major Russian players.

The company Sacturino Limited, controlled by the son of Suleiman Kerimov Said, which owns 40.2% of the shares of the gold–mining company Polyus Gold together with the affiliated Wandle Holdings Limited, discusses the purchase of the company's securities from the other shareholders, including those that are circulated on the market. Sacturino and Polyus disclosed this information in the regulatory reports on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Sacturino is willing to buy the shares at the price of $2.97 per share – with a 3% premium to its average market price for the month and 7% premium to the average trading price for the last three months. Based on the volume of the Polyus’ securities, which don’t belong to the structures of the Kerimovs, the repurchase may require $5.4 billion. Who will provide the funds is not disclosed, the financial adviser of the transaction was called VTB Capital (the market believes that the package of the Kerimovs in Polyus was bought with funds, provided by VTB). VTB declined to comment.