MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian steelmaker Evraz said share sales by major shareholders Roman Abramovich and Alexander Abramov this week could mitigate sanctions risks against the company.
Abramovich and Abramov were among the Evraz shareholders who sold a combined total of about 25.4 million shares, or about 1.8 percent of the company, for some 151 million pounds ($200 million) on Monday.
Chief Financial Officer Nikolay Ivanov told a conference call on Tuesday the two had reduced their combined stake in Evraz to less than 50 percent, saying in his opinion this decreased the risk of sanctions being imposed on the company.
EVRAZ (LON:EVRE) shares traded down 5.6 percent by 1115 GMT, having spiked to a record 634.8 pence the previous session.
Evraz, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, has operations in Russia, the United States, Canada and other countries. It is one of the world's top steel producers based on crude steel production.
Major shareholders in at least four Russian companies have already offloaded or said they would offload some of their shareholdings this month via share sales.
Some used accelerated bookbuilding deals (ABB), a quick way to conduct a sale when books are open only for a very short period of time.
Abramovich and his partners sold $551 million of shares in mining group Norilsk Nickel last week via the same method. The shares represented a 1.7 stake in the company and were mostly bought by British-based investors.
Meat producer Cherkizovo said earlier on Tuesday it would offer 6.6 percent, or 2.9 million, of treasury shares and new shares to raise around $200 million via a conventional share sale.
The United States and other Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russian officials, companies and banks since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
These measures have significantly changed the business landscape in Russia, forcing investors and company owners to adapt.