On Dec. 10, Sadovaya Group became the first Ukrainian coal producer to hold a foreign public share offering.
It raised $30.4 million on the Warsaw stock exchange selling 10.8 million shares, or 25 percent in the company, for 8.6 zloty ($2.88) apiece.
Sadovaya, Ukraine’s fourth-largest private energy coal mining company plans to use the proceeds to pay for equipment, two coal-enrichment plants and licenses to expand output, co-owner Oleksandr Tolstoukhov said Dec. 1.
The demand for thermal coal is driven globally by the growing economies of China and India and domestically as Ukraine plans to take several of its older atomic power stations off-line over the next few years and raise electricity prices for the population in 2011.
“Sadovaya’s IPO puts the company in a great position to capitalize on this demand as this financing will allow the company to expand its operations,” said Nick Piazza, head of BG Capital, the Kyiv investment bank that managed Sadovaya’s sale.
“Moreover Sadovaya’s position as the first ever public traded coal mine in Ukraine is likely not only to help the company attract further financing down the road for growth but very likely could mark the beginning of a huge wave of international public investment into Ukraine’s coal sector.”
