Shareholders of MICEX signed non-binding Letter of intent to acquire controlling interest of OJSC RTS. The Letter was signed with RTS Stock Exchange shareholders owning together over 50% of the company’s share capital.
According to the Letter the legal and business terms of the deal must be developed by 15 April.
The deal is expected to be concluded by the end of the first half of 2011. In order to conclude the deal it will be necessary to conclude some specific corporate procedures in addition to satisfying the requirements of the Federal Antimonopoly Service and other regulatory agencies. The merger of technology services is expected to be completed during 2011-2012.
In accordance with the terms of the Letter 35 per cent of the consideration for RTS will be paid in cash and 65 per cent will be paid in shares of CJSC ‘MICEX’. MICEX Group will invite other RTS Stock Exchange shareholders to join the Letter of intent on these terms.
The merger of the two largest Russian bourses will facilitate the establishing of a powerful, integrated financial market infrastructure, professionally managed and run according to up-to-date principles of interaction between all market participants. This step will become a key element in establishing Moscow as an international financial center.
‘This letter will launch the process of merging Russia’s two leading bourses based on the market evaluation of both companies. Integration of platforms, technologies and professional potential of our companies will allow us to create a strong trading venue in Moscow in the near future with the prospect of becoming one of the most rapidly developing exchanges in the world. In signing the letter we are confident that the merger will bring additional value for the shareholders of MICEX and RTS Stock Exchange as well as having a positive impact on the Russian market, due to the substantial growth of overall liquidity levels’, said Ruben Aganbegyan, the MICEX President.
Roman Goryunov, Chief Executive Officer of OJSC RTS, believes that signing of the letter represents a considerable step forward in creating integrated powerful exchange infrastructure. ‘The pooling of best practices accumulated by both organizations will result in large synergy effects and strengthen the standing of Russia on the international markets. The dynamic and effective management team, state-of-the-art trading technologies, services and instruments and highly effective risk-management systems will become the foundation for Russia’s success on the global financial market’.