RBC: Prosveshchenie Publishing House Thinks About IPO
The largest Russian publishing house on the market for school textbooks, Prosveshchenie, has decided to sell part of its shares on the stock exchange through an IPO (initial public offering), RBC writes, citing a source.
At the same time, the head of the Enlightenment group, Mikhail Kozhevnikov, called the IPO “one of the possible development options”, which will be incorporated into the company's strategy being developed until 2030. It is expected to be presented in the first quarter of 2022.
It is assumed that in this case, about 10 percent of Prosveshcheniye shares will be put up for free sale. At the same time, the current owners will retain their positions and are not going to withdraw from the capital of the group, and the funds raised will be used for development.
The current attempt to enter an IPO will be the second for Enlightenment. The first was reported in 2017, but the plans were eventually postponed due to the “economic and geopolitical situation in the world.” In May 2021, Sberbank, VEB.RF and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) became shareholders of the company, which bought back 25 percent of the shares. The overall valuation of the company was 108 billion rubles.