Ruben Vardanyan, president of Troika Dialog (left), with Gref German, Russian Minister of Economic Development and Trade
Photo: Nikita Infantyev
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Troika Buys into Turkish Chemicals
TransCentralAsia Petrochemical Holding, a consortium of Troika Capital Partners and the Kazakh groups Evrazia and JSK Caspi Neft won the auction for the privatization of 51 percent of Petkim, Turkey's largest petrochemical holding. It paid $2.05 billion, outbidding seven competitors. Nonetheless, it is not certain that the deal will be concluded, since it is subject to approval by the Turkish Supreme Council on Privatization, headed by the country's prime minister. Russian investors are rarely allowed to buy Turkish assets. The Russian-Kazakh consortium is proposing a broad modernization program for the complex.
Petkim produces plastics, polymers, olefins and synthetic fibers. It controls 27 percent of the Turkish petrochemical products market. In 2006, Petkim produced 626,000 tons of thermoplastics, 490,000 tons of ethylene and 169,000 tons of synthetic fibers. Its 2006 proceeds were $1.45 billion, with $40 million in net profit. The company held an IPO in April 2005, and 38.68 percent of its stock is now traded on the market.
Evrazia spokesmen confirmed that the company is participating in the consortium as a strategic investor. Troika Capital Partners president Sergey Skvortsov told Kommersant that the company was a financial investor and would be responsible for attracting further credit from the Kazakh Turnalem Bank (which controls Evrazia) and Credit Suisse. He added that the consortium would form a joint stock company to which the Petkim shares would be transferred. Caspi Neft could not be reached for comment.
Russian analysts see the deal as promising, noting that the complex is well-located for exports to Russia. It is assumed that Caspi Neft will act as a supplier of raw materials. Hakan Aksay, chairman of the Turkish-Russian Research Center, noted, however, that the consortium seriously overpaid for the company. On Wednesday evening, its capitalization on the Istanbul stock market was $1.42 billion.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 06, 2007
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