Press releases 2012

44/12
28 November 2012
MegaFon raises $1.7bn in London’s largest telecoms capital raising for more than a decade

-      Money raised by Russian companies tops $8.2bn in 2012
-      MegaFon CEO Ivan Tavrin opens UK trading

London Stock Exchange today welcomes MegaFon, one of Russia’s largest telecommunications businesses, to its Main Market. The company opened trading in London in a ceremony to mark the start of conditional dealing in its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), ahead of its listing on 3 December.

MegaFon’s offering raised $1.7 billion (£1.1 billion), the largest new capital raising by a telecommunications company in London since Orange in 2001. The offering also brings the total amount of capital raised by Russian new issues on London Stock Exchange to $8.2 billion (£5.1 billion) this year.

Ivan Tavrin, CEO at MegaFon, joined Chris Gibson-Smith, Chairman of London Stock Exchange Group, in opening trading on the London markets this morning.

Alastair Walmsley, Director of Equity Primary Markets at London Stock Exchange Group, said:

“MegaFon is another fantastic win for London. It is our largest telecoms offering for over ten years, and the latest in a string of Russian firms raising substantial equity capital on our markets. It shows London remains the natural destination for successful international businesses looking to access a global investor base.”

Ivan Tavrin, CEO at MegaFon, said:

“We received high quality institutional demand from all regions in which the securities were offered. The successful pricing of our IPO today is a clear endorsement of MegaFon’s investment case and reflects investor appetite for the Russian mobile data growth story. On behalf of the Board I welcome all our new shareholders and look forward to delivering further profitable growth and value creation as we continue to leverage our leadership in mobile data to exploit the significant opportunities we see ahead.”

MegaFon will join 65 Russian companies already quoted across London Stock Exchange’s markets, which have raised $68.8 billion (£42.9 billion) in new and further issues since 2004.

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For further information, and photographs of the event, please contact:

Jonny Blostone                                Press Office +44 (0) 20 7797 1222
                                                       newsroom@londonstockexchange.com

Notes to editors:

About London Stock Exchange Group:

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE.L) sits at the heart of the world’s financial community. The Group operates a broad range of international equity, bond and derivatives markets, including London Stock Exchange; Borsa Italiana; MTS, Europe's leading fixed income market; and Turquoise, offering UK and Russian derivatives trading, pan-European and US lit and dark equity trading. Through its markets, the Group offers international business unrivalled access to Europe’s capital markets.

The Group is a leading developer of high performance trading platforms and capital markets software and also offers its customers around the world access and an extensive range of real-time and reference data products and market-leading post-trade services. The Group is also home to a world leading index provider FTSE, which creates and manages over 200,000 equity, bond and alternative asset class indices.

Headquartered in London, United Kingdom with significant operations in Italy and Sri Lanka, the Group employs around 1,900 people.

Further information on London Stock Exchange Group can be found at www.londonstockexchangegroup.com