Information is the oxygen of the modern age – Russian IPOs - RIP

THIS CONCLUDES THE ARCHIVES OF MY BLOG

I do hope that some scholars and businesspeople will find certain information that can be used these days. I have published a total of 105 posts.

 Interesting to note: I was employed at FINAM - the biggest stock broker in Russia. At that time NO ONE was publishing ANY Blogs in English about the Russian Equity Financing (do not know what is the current situation). During my stay with FINAM, NOT A SINGLE PERSON from the company was interested and even acknowledged the fact (even FINAM's high quality Analyst Department). Despite that, I witnessed a flow of visitors (listed below) and was invited to run the Financial Page at The Russia Blog. After I was notified that FINAM does not care for Equity Financing, I moved to other business - those interested may look at my archive of Global Mining & Financial Issues Blog - the one that was more popular (and after I recently started its revival - more people are reading and commenting).

Anyways, here is the final post

THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AUGUST 22, 2007

 

Information is the oxygen of the modern age – Russian IPOs - RIP

Private information is practically the source of every large modern fortune

 Oscar Wilde

Now it is 8 months since my blog exists. I think my experiment is to a certain level a success. This shows the updated list of the corporate servers that generated visitors to my pages in these months.

Interesting observation – I have not posted much in August but still the visitors are coming. That surprises me much and shows that there still a niche that is not much filled.

And here is the latest updated list of those who read.

Academy Of National Economy, Accenture, Agefi, Agora Inc., Aig Brunswick Capital Management, Alba Aliance Bank, Alegro Capital Ltd., Alfa-bank Moscow Russia, Allen And Overy, American Capital Strategies Ltd., American International Group, Ask Jeeves Inc., Associated Press, Atherton And Associates Inc., Atlantic Broadband Finance Llc., Aton Moscow, Baillie Gifford & Co., Balanoff & Balanoff, Banco Santander Totta S.a., Bank Of Finland, Bank Of New York Europe, Bank One Columbus Na, Bank Slaski S.a. W Katowicach, Banque Meespierson Bgl Sa, Banque Nationale De Paris, Banque Nationale De Paris – Bn, Barclays Capital, Baring Vostok Capital Partners, Bear Stearns Security, Ben Scole Financial Inc., Bigdough, Bloomberg Financial Market, Boston-Consulting, Brandsmiths Ltd., British Broadcasting Corporation, British Sky Broadcasting Ltd., Broadcast Company TV-news, Brunswick Investment, Bryan Cave Mcpheeters & Mcrobe, Bulgarian Government Network, Ca IB International Markets Ltd., Cariverona Banca Spa, Carnegie Mellon University, Cartesian Capital Group, Cdc Group Plc, Chadbourne-parke, Charlemagne Capital Ltd. , Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. , Chivas Brothers Ltd. , Chris Fowler International Ltd., Citadel Investment Group, Citic Capital Markets Holdings, Citicorp Global Information Network, City Of Lodon Investment Mgmt, Clearwire Llc, Clifford Chance, Cogeco Cable Canada Inc., Commercial Bank Rosbank, Compass advisers llp., Computasoft Ltd., Control Risks Corp., Cowen & Co., Credit Lyonnais Rusbank Moscow, Credit Suisse Group, Creo Products Inc., Cushman & Wakefield Stiles & R., D. E. Shaw & Co., Dagbladet Brsen A/s, Daimlerchrysler Ag, Dell Computer Corporation, Deloitte And Touche UK, Deloyt.Moscow, Denizbank A.s., Deutsche Bank, Dexia Banque Internationale, Dexia Credit Local, Dion (kddi Corporation, Doc-international Trade Admin, Dow Jones-telerate,,Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Dresdner-kleinwort-benson, Eastman Kodak Company, EBRD, Electric Lightwave Inc., Energis Uk, Ernst And Young Llp., Ernst&young (cis) B.v ., Eton Park Capital Ltd., Eurasiagroup, Euromoney Institutional Investors, Export Import Bank Of The U.S., Farallon Capital Mgmnt, Farner Pr Und Consulting Ag, Fascinations Toys And Gifts, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp./, Fiberaccess Benq Europe B.v. S, Fidelity Investments, Financial Dynamics Inc. , Financial Services Authority, Flextronics International Sweden, Focus Tv Produktions Gmbh., Foote Cone & Belding Communications, Fortress Investment Group Llc., Garantibank Moscow , General Electric Company, Genesys Inc., Gga Maur Ebmatingen, Glencore International Ag, Global Diachirisi Kefalaion Ae, Global Sage Ltd., GMD Solutions, Inc. , Gni Limited, Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs Company, Google Inc., Government Of Singapore Invest, Grand-tornton-trid, Green.ch Ag Brugg Switzerland, Greenwich Capital Markets Inc., Gustav W. Rogge Gmbh & Co. Kg , Hagstromer & Qviberg Fondkomis, Hansabank Ltd., Harro Hoefliger Verpackungsmas, Harvard University, Hemscott Plc Company, Hilton Hospitality Inc., Hoare Govett ABN, Hoare Govett Services, Hogg Robinson Financial Services, Hq Global Workplaces Inc., Hsbc Bank Plc Uk), Hsbc Bank Usa, Hsh Nordbank, Hughes Electronics, HypoVereinsbank, Ibm Corporation, Icg Berane, Icicibank Ltd India, Imperial Energy Corporation, Inceptamarketintelligence, Information Brooker, Ing-group, Intellispace Inc., Intern Inst For Strategic Studies, International Finance Corporation, International Monetary Fund, Investment Technology Group, Japan Bank For Intern Cooperation, Japan Trade And Investment Ins, Johns Hopkins University , Jones Lang Lasalle, JPMorgand, Kazimir Partners Uk, Kbc Bankverzekeringsholding, Kbc Financial Products Uk , Kempen & Co, Keyhaven-capital-partners, Kinkos Inc., Kissingermclartyassociates, Knight-frank, Kpmg Moscow, Lazard Freres , Lehman Brothers , Liberty Business Advisors, Library Of Congress Information Service, Linebrook Ltd., London Business School, London School Of Economics, London Stock Exchange, Louis Dreyfus Corp., M-m-planet-retail, M. M. Warburg Bank, Marcus Millichap Real Estate, Mastercard International Llc , McKee Nelson, Mckinsey & Company Inc., Mcube Investments Technologies, Meinlbank_vienna, Mellon Bank, Merrill Lynch And Company Inc., Metro Ag Koeln, Microsoft Corp., Midas Fondsmaeglerselskab A/s, Mint capital, Mission Capital Advisors Llc., Mizuho Corporate Bank, Mks Inc., Mmdpr, Moore Capital Management Inc., Morgan Stanley Group Inc.,, Moscow Narodny Bank Limited, Muenchener Rueckversicherungs , Nasdaq Stock Market, Nat West Bank Group, Natexis Metals, Netscape Communications Corp, Network Of Associated Press, Network Of Ibm E-business Host, Nicholas Hall Co., Nikoil Ibg E-commerece, Nomura International Hong Kong, Nomura International Plc., Nomura Securities, Nordea, Northland Cable Television , NYSE, Oaktree Capital, Octagon Capital Corp., Ogilvy & Mather Inc., Oliver Wyman & Co, Omni Offices Inc., Onvista Media Gmbh, OPEC, OTP Bank Hungary, Overseas Private Investment Co., Oxford University, Pacific Crest Securities Inc., , Painewebber Group Inc., Pccw Limited, Peterhambro, Petra Holdings Llc., Pfc Energy, Piper & Marbury L.l.p., Polo Ralph Lauren L.p., Polymetall Uk, Precision Castparts Corp., Price Waterhouse, Pricewaterhause-coopers MOW, Princeton University, Quintiles Uk, RADIO FREE EUROPE, Raiffeisen Zentralbank, Raymond James Financial Inc., Real Estate Board Of New York, Regus Management Limited, Renova Management Ag., Rete Pubblica Della Banca Di Roma, Rogers Cable Inc. Bloor , Roland Berger Strategy Consulting, Rose Partnership, Rosemount Capital, Royal Bank Of Canada, Royal Bank Of Scotland, Royal Institute Of Naval Architects, Rusal Hq , Sac Capital, Salomon Inc., Sandler O'Neill, Savannah College Of Art, Savv-allen-overy, Scansafe Inc., Scherer Investments Inc., Schweizerische Effekten-giro, Shanghai Commercial & SavBnk, Siemens Ag , Sita-societe Internationale De, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Spencer Stuart, St. Louis University, Standard Bank (asia) Ltd., Stanford University Network, State Bank Of India, Sterling Publishing Group Plc., Susquehanna Investment Group, Swedish Tax Administration, Swiss Federal Government, Swiss National Bank, T. Rowe Price International Inc., Tbih (rus), The Bank Of New York, The Chase Manhattan Bank, The Chase Manhattan Bank N.a., The Dow Chemical Company, The Economist, The George Washington University, The Mining Journal, The St. Louis Trust Company, The Supreme Court Of The Us, The World Bank Group, The World Bank Group, Thomas Murray Ltd., Thomson Financial, Thomson Information Services, Tufts University, Ubs Ag , Ubs-lon-pd, Unaxis Balzers Ag, Unicredito Italiano Spa, United Partners Tallinn, Unity Bank, University Of Houston, Us Courts – Dcn Colocation, Us Venture Partners, Valley National Bank, Vtx Services Sa, Wainwright Investment Counsel, Wakefern Food Corporation, Warsaw Stock Exchange, washingtonspeakers.com, Welch Capital Partners Llc, Westhouse-securities-llp, White and Case, Wiener Boerse Ag, Zwirn Capital Management

Investing in Russian Gold Mining Companies

THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AUGUST 02, 2007

Investing in Russian Gold Mining Companies

While there is a lot of materials on the Internet about Russian gold mining industry and investments in it, here I would like to present a mini-case of a Russian company that is mulling IPO later this year on LSE (LON:LSE) AIM or TSX (TSE:X). Of course, this is not big one, but shows a potential of investments that was actually well captured by Renaissance pre-IPO Fund that already made it. (BTW a nice news item was posted today at RBC Daily about the Fund).
Golden League Limited was founded in the summer of 2006 by the former CEO of Highland Gold Mining (SEA:HGM), for the purpose of exploration and development of gold deposits in Khabarovsk Region. The current management is former Highland Mining employees and among the shareholders is Flemings Family & Partners. The Company is currently developing the gold project, which consist of a 4.8 sq km gold deposit and the surrounding ore field (348.2 sq km), located 610 km east of Khabarovsk.

Renaissance pre-IPO Fund invested $5 mln and became the largest financial investor. The purchase price implies the company valuation of 4 x EV/EBITDA 2008
The current round of financing will be used to finalize the payment for the company, which acquired a new license ($1.5 mln) and is continuing exploration work on the edge of the old and new license plots. Another round of financing will be needed to continue the exploration of a new plot and to conduct a feasibility study for a factory. However, if the result of the reclassification is not sufficient to reach the target capitalization for the IPO, shareholders may choose to raise private funds and postpone the IPO for one more year.

The Company has identified a “market niche,” exploring quality, lesser-known deposits that are available for acquisition. Once acquired, the Company’s team has the experience necessary to plan and execute phased exploration programs designed to economically evaluate the full geological potential of each project

Source: Renaissance pre-IPO Fund

Russian IPOs – Review of Some Events of Week 29th, 2007

THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 22, 2007

Russian IPOs – Review of Some Events of Week 29th, 2007

R Is for Russia (and Returns) – The Street.com

Interested in invest in Russia? Here what The Street.com offers in terms of advice. “Brazil, Russia, India and China are the four countries expected to outpace their emerging market peers over the next several decades …. Of the BRIC countries, Russia is probably the most volatile market and the one that has been on the radar of mainstream American investors the longest.” I think it is one of the most reasonable overview of ETF options that I have read recently.

Energy Commodity Exchange in Russia Under Way

This week a meeting at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade discussed the issues regarding international commodity exchange that is scheduled to open in St. Petersburg in August. The idea is to start trading in Russian oil domestically. Russia is currently selling its oil on the New York exchange. According to Minister German Gref the exchange may start selling all energy products in 2009-2010 while trade in petrochemicals is to be launched this autumn. Oil trade may begin by the end of next year. The meeting resolved that by the end of July the list of potential participants of the exchange will be closed. Officially the establishment of the commodity exchange was approved and all parties basically agreed to start practical activities to register the venture. Besides New York Mercantile Exchange (NYSE:NMX) and its oil advisor Expertica Limited (Gibraltar) the participants include: the Government of St.Petersburg, Gazprom, Rosneft, TATNEFT, TNK-BP, Lukoil and Transneft.

Russian Vodka Going to American Hands?

Russian alcohol producing business is attractive for investors. However, this week we had seen the first one that is coming to Russian with intentions to produce vodka here. Central European Distribution Corporation (Nasdaq: CEDC) announced this week it has signed a binding Letter of Intent (LOI) to acquire a significant majority interest in Parliament group company holding various alcoholic beverage production and distribution assets which include the number one selling premium vodka brand in Russia, Parliament Vodka.

Politics & Business – Different Ways

Despite of all political rhetoric, business is going on and here are the few examples:

Great Circle Capital, an emerging markets private equity fund based in Stamford, Ct., is investing $21.1 million in Moscow-based STS Logistics, a leading Russian freight forwarding, warehousing, and customs services provider.

AIG Interros Russia Century Fund, a private equity fund established by the international financial corporation AIG and the Russian holding company Interros this week closed the deal of buying of a 10% stake in the auto dealer Incom-Auto. According to the experts this will help the company in its preparations for the scheduled IPO.

London & Regional Properties, the British real estate developer plans to spend at least $1 billion on projects in Russia in the next 12 months. The investments will include a chain of hotels that the company is building for Hilton Hotels, Geovanis said Tuesday. Also London & Regional is constructing a hotel in St. Petersburg that's due to open in September. Hilton Hotels Corporation has signed up three developers to open hotels in Russia, the UK, the Caribbean and Central America over the next five year. Hilton Hotels Corporation (NYSE:HLT) has teamed up in Russia with London & Regional Properties to open 25 hotels in Moscow and St Petersburg and key regional cities. The first hotel is expected to be in the centre of Novosibirsk and in Moscow we await opening of the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya very soon.

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's largest producer of computer games, announced this week that it is opening a branch in Russia. The company hopes to increase Electronic Arts' share of the Russian market to 20% in the next four years