Investors are so keen to buy a stake in Russian oil major Rosneft that the company's IPO has been oversubscribed, a spokesperson for a firm advising Rosneft has said.
According to several newspaper reports, interest in Rosneft’s share offer has exceeded both capacity and expectations it would seem, as reports from earlier in the week suggested the Russian outfit was worried that there would be insufficient interest.
Reports at the beginning of the week suggested Rosneft was in talks with energy outfit BP over a proposed $1 billion investment. With Rosneft limiting investment from any individual investor to 2% of the overall share book, multiple investors are needed and therefore it has been suggested that the BP deal was designed to encourage others to take up stock in the Russian oil giant.
Now it appears Rosneft’s concerns were ungrounded. According to the Independent newspaper, three major investors have placed orders for about half of the total IPO offering. It has been suggested that the three are: BP, Petronas and China National Petroleum Corp. However, BP has denied making a commitment. Most of the remaining shares have supposedly been taken by a number of smaller domestic players.
If the take up of Rosneft shares has been as successful as accounts suggest, then the Russian oil outfit will have raised between $60 and $80 billion.