KYIV - Agroton, one of the leading agricultural holdings and the largest sunflower seed producer in Ukraine, completed IPO of 26.2% stake on The Warsaw Stock exchange, Phoenix Capital announced. According to the company’s book, Agroton stock was priced at 27 PLN (9.58 USD, 6.83 EUR) per share, which implies market capitalization of USD 207 mln. 

Size of the offer totaled USD 54 mln. Company intends to use the proceeds on land bank increase, and storage capacity expansion. Phoenix Capital acted as international lead manager, while Dom Maklerski BZW BK S.A. acted as local lead manager of the placement.

During four weeks road show, representatives of the company held negotiations with more than 130 institutional investors. As a result, the book was five times oversubscribed. Agroton shares will officially begin trading on The Warsaw Stock exchange in the beginning of November.

Yuriy Zhuravlev, Founder, Agroton Group: “Agroton is the largest agro producer in Eastern Ukraine and one of the leading agricultural holdings in the country. Our main goal is to become the largest agricultural company in the Eastern Europe and this placement is an important step in achieving this goal.”

Oleksandr Omelchuk, Chairman, Phoenix Capital: “Dual listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange allowed to attract more investors. It secured the highest price per share and demand that considerably exceeded supply. Successful IPO on the Warsaw Stock exchange proves that Agroton choose the right capitalization strategy. This prominent project showed significant investor interest in Ukraine and its agriculture in particular."

AGROTON PUBLIC LIMITED 
Agroton is the largest diversified, vertically integrated agricultural producer in eastern Ukraine. The Group’s core business is crop production, principally sunflower seeds and wheat, as well as processing, storage and sale of these crops. At present, Agroton is the fifth largest publicly traded agribusiness in Ukraine in terms of hectares under cultivation.

Founded in 1992, the Company harvests 134,000 hectares of black soil farmland in the Luhansk and Kharkiv regions and operates 235,000 tonnes of elevator storage facilities. Agroton Public Limited conducts its operations in three segments: crop farming, livestock, and food processing and food production. The Group’s EBITDA in 1H2010 was $37 mln, and net profit was $28 mln (www.agroton.com.ua).

NOTE:  Phoenix Capital is a member of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Washington, D.C., www.usubc.org. 

LINK: http://phoenix-capital.com.ua/en/press/press_release?id=3912