The Moscow and London offices of Debevoise & Plimpton have advised PJSC Polyus in connection with a public offering of shares and depositary receipts and the listing of the depositary receipts on the LSE. Clifford Chance reportedly advised the banks on the offering.
The offering involved an offering of the existing shares of Polyus by Polyus Gold International Limited, the company’s principal shareholder, and by Polyus Gold plc, a subsidiary of PGIL, in each case in the form of shares and depositary receipts , and an offering of new shares by the company. The total size of the offering was USD 799 million, excluding the over-allotment option. The offering was the largest international offering by a Russian issuer since 2Q 2014 and the first offering with a listing of depositary receipts by a Russian issuer on the London Stock Exchange since 2014.
Polyus is the largest gold producer in Russia and one of the top 10 gold miners globally with the lowest cost position. Based on its 2016 Ore Reserves and Mineral Resources, Polyus ranks second by attributable gold reserves and third by attributable gold resources among the world’s largest gold mining companies.
The Debevoise team advising on the matter was led by London-Based Partner James Scoville and Moscow-based Partners Natalia Drebezgina and Alan Kartashkin and included International Counsels Vera Losonci and Maxim Kuleshov and Associates Marina Abazyan, Laurence Hanesworth, and Timur Ochkhaev. Tax advice was provided by London-based Partner Richard Ward and New York-based Partner Michael Bolotin, as well as International Counsel Cecile Beurrier and Associates Samuel Krawiecz and Ellie Mends.
Editor's Note: After this article was published Clifford Chance informed CEE Legal Matters that "advised the Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners of PJSC Polyus' public offering of 12,020,442 shares in the form of ordinary shares and depositary receipts and the listing of the depositary receipts on the LSE." The firm's Moscow team advising on the matter included Partner Arthur Iliev, Counsel Evgeny Soloviev, and Senior Associate Filipp Petyukov. Clifford Chance's London team included Partners John Connolly and Adrian Cartwright, US Counsel Arthur Levi, and Senior Associates Tony Lally and Leonid Stoliarski.
