Русский
The Russian government is to put up for sale another 23.76% of shares in Aeroflot, the Russian national airline, the Federal Property Agency (Rosimushchestvo) has stated. The previous sale of Aeroflot stock was in 2020.
Rosimushchestvo is preparing a tender for an organiser, who is to be appointed on June 9, and ‘must ensure an assessment of the market value of the stake, as well as submit a report on possible transaction structures that maximize the inflow of funds into the federal budget.’ That is likely to be one of the large Russian banks.
The previous sale of Aeroflot stock took place in October 2020, when a secondary share issuance was aimed at stabilizing operations amid the crisis in air travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The company placed 1,333,919,149 ordinary shares and raised ₽80.04 billion (US$1 billion), with anchor investors including the Russian Direct Investment Fund (DIF) together with sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East. VTB Capital acted as the organizer of the transaction and also purchased a small stake in the company. The total investment amount corresponded to approximately 3.4% of the airline’s increased charter capital.
Aeroflot’s current charter consists of 3,975,771,215 ordinary shares with a par value of ₽1 each. The market value of the proposed SPO, based on current quotes on the Moscow Exchange, is approximately ₽44.5 billion (US$622 million).
Aeroflot is the largest aviation group in Russia, uniting the airline of the same name as well as the Pobeda and Rossiya airlines. The state controls 73.8% of the company’s shares (and will therefore retain control after the sale of 23.76%), 1.2% consists of quasi-treasury shares, and 25% are in free float.
The Finance Ministry expects two or three transactions for the sale of shares in state-owned companies on the stock market in 2026, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseyev has said.
Russia has a relatively low percentage of its state-owned companies’ stock trading on its exchanges, meaning this is a pent-up financial resource yet to be fully utilized. For example, about 62% of all Americans own stock in American companies, whereas in Russia the percentage is about 7%. Yet Russia has some of the highest savings rates in the world and is amongst the least indebted. Putting a larger percentage of Russian personal savings into Russian companies is a key economic issue for the Central Bank and the government to solve.
Meanwhile, Aeroflot has committed to acquire 200 new jet aircraft over the coming years and is involved in significant plans to upgrade its fleet. While flight routes west have been curtailed due to sanctions, it has been developing alternative commercial flight routes elsewhere and especially in Asia.
