Miner Petropavlovsk Seeks Moscow Listing to Attract Investors

(Bloomberg) -- Petropavlovsk Plc applied for a secondary listing in Moscow to target traders outside of London, as part of an effort to win back investors after losing most of its market value in the past decade.

The Russia-focused gold miner plans to start trading on the Moscow Exchange by the end of June, subject to approval of its listing documents, it said Friday. While it won’t place or issue any new shares, the move should help Petropavlovsk to tap institutional and local retail investors given elevated interest in gold now, Deputy Chief Executive Alya Samokhvalova said by phone.

The company has rebounded this year -- outperforming larger peers like Polyus PJSC and Polymetal International Plc -- amid rising production and higher gold prices. Still, the miner is far from its historic peaks. Worth more than $3 billion a decade ago, Petropavlovsk then plummeted amid shareholder conflicts and management missteps.

The stock has recovered in the past year after the company targeted higher production, cut liabilities and found a buyer for its indebted iron ore unit. It’s also looking at new gold assets and is considering a formalized dividend policy.

Petropavlovsk, whose current free float is almost 50%, will use consultant Renaissance Capital and a Russian bank to help create liquidity in Moscow, Samokhvalova said. The next step would be entering the flagship MoEx Russia Index and RTS Index later in the year, possibly in September, which may further attract investment, she said.

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