Amtel Plans $250 million London IPO

Russian tyre producer Amtel plans to attract $250 million at an initial public offering in London next month, Reuters has reported. Amtel-Vredestein plans to sell 25 per cent of its stock at the IPO, which is planned for 10 November, the news source said.

If the IPO goes as planned, Amtel will be the latest in a run of Russian companies which have all gone to the British capital to raise money by selling stock. It will also be one of the last to sell a larger amount of stock than specified in the new legislation prepared by the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring.

At the present time Russian companies are allowed to sell as much as 40 per cent of their stock at a foreign market IPO. The service wants to lower this figure to 20 per cent of the total stock, because it hopes such a move would boost the growth and development of the Russian stock market.

According to MDM Financial Group, Amtel controls 30 per cent of tyre production in Russia, a 42 per cent increase year-on-year. Its products include tyres for automobiles, heavy and light trucks, aviation, earthmovers, the military and bicycles.