Altus Capital wants to buy up to 29.9% of Detsky Mir shares at a record price of 160 rubles

Altus Capital wants to buy up to 29.9% of Detsky Mir shares at a record price of 160 rubles

(Reuters) - Altus Capital wants to acquire up to 29.9% of Detsky Mir (MCX: DSKY) shares, has offered shareholders a buyback at a record high price of 160 rubles per share, the company said.

The proposed price is based on the company's valuation of 118.24 billion rubles, Altus Capital said in a statement. The collection of applications will begin on December 3 and will last until December 18 inclusive. Offer does not apply to US and Affiliated Territories Shareholders.

At the close of trading on Friday, Detsky Mir shares were worth 126.48 rubles, which is almost 28% below the offer price. After the offer was announced today, the price jumped almost 16% to historically highs; by 14.15 Moscow time it was 143.6 rubles.

Following the offer, Altus Capital plans to buy no more than 220,961,000 shares of Detsky Mir, which is 29.9% of the total number of offered shares of the company. The buyer reserves the right to shorten the application deadline at his own discretion and purchase only those shares, applications for which will be submitted before the relevant date.

The largest shareholders of Detsky Mir - AFK Sistema (MCX: AFKS) and RCIF - finally withdrew from the retailer's capital following an SPO in early September. Russia's largest and actively growing retailer of goods for children, which created its own marketplace and pays generous dividends, was left without major shareholders, formally with 100% of shares in free float.

As noted by Altus Capital, the offer price implies a 42.9% premium to the SPO price of 112 rubles and a premium of 43.2% to the weighted average share price at the Moscow Exchange trading for six months (111.74 rubles).

Detsky Mir stated that its board of directors and management did not conduct any preliminary discussions with Altus about a possible deal, did not ask for any proposals from it and have no information about Altus's intentions and views regarding Detsky Mir and its share in its capital.

Altus Capital announces that it is an independent investment company founded in 2014 by two partners of UFG Wealth Management - Oksana Kuchura and Dmitry Klenov. Altus Capital specializes in private equity investments in high-growth companies.

"Altus Capital has a successful track record of transactions aimed at disclosing the fundamental value of companies in Russia", - notes in the company's message its managing partner Klenov.

Altus Capital does not disclose the composition of its investments. However, it is known that she was a major shareholder in Pharmacy Chain 36.6. It was represented by Altus Capital Pharmacy Retail 1 Limited, registered in the Cayman Islands, which last week reduced its stake in the pharmacy chain to 17.46% from 29.97%.

Analysts at JP Morgan noted in a note that in order to understand this transaction, they consider the key one whose interests are represented by Altus Capital.

"Detsky Mir is known for its strong corporate governance and transparency, and the lack of clarity in the profile and intentions of a potential new shareholder is cause for concern, in our view.", - the message says.

(Olga Popova, Ekaterina Golubkova in Moscow and a bureau in Gdansk. Editor Gleb Stolyarov)