Moscow Times 13 September 2012
Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group is in talks with two potential buyers to sell its nearly $4 billion stake in the country’s largest gold miner, Polyus Gold.
The company’s announcement Wednesday signals that the businessman-turned-politician has abandoned his attempt to use Polyus as a platform for a global merger.
Valuations of gold miners are languishing at their lowest in 17 years in relation to rallying gold prices.
The announcement may also herald an all-Russian alliance involving co-owner Suleiman Kerimov, as the industry faces rising costs to unlock challenging new deposits in the Far East and reacts with unease to a political climate widely seen by foreign players as hostile.
Prokhorov, with a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $13 billion, ran on a liberal ticket and placed third in the presidential election, won by Vladimir Putin, in March. His political future is uncertain, leading to speculation that he would like to reduce his financial exposure in Russia.
In a statement, Onexim said it is “in preliminary discussions regarding a possible sale of some or all of its interest in Polyus Gold, with two potential purchasers in respect of an interest of less than 20 percent each in Polyus Gold”.