Vladimir Lisin, chairman of the board of directors of Russian steel producer NLMK, attends a voting meeting for the board’s new chairman on May 29, 2018 at its headquarters in Moscow, Russia. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo Get license rights
MOSCOW, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Russian billionaire Vladimir Lisin has sold Freight One, one of the country’s largest freight train operators, to the owners of SG-Trans, Russia’s largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) transporter. Matter told Reuters.
A source, who asked not to be named because the information is not public, said the deal is worth about 200 billion rubles ($2.15 billion).
SG-Trans is controlled by Timur and Ruslan Babev. Salman Babev, a former deputy chairman of Russian Railways, will become the chief executive of Freight One, a source said.
Lisin, who controls steelmaker NLMK ( NLMK.MM ), was ranked Russia’s richest man last year. Forbes Russia ranked third on the list this year with a net worth of $22.1 billion.
Freight One, known as PGK in Russian, declined to comment. The Babev family could not immediately be reached. Lisin’s representatives declined to comment.
Russia’s No. 2 lender VTB Bank ( VTBR.MM ) offered part of the deal, three of the sources said. Two of them said VTB had financed most of the deal.
VTB declined to comment.
PGK operates more than 100,000 railcars and has long been waiting for favorable market conditions for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) before Russia sends troops to Ukraine in 2021.
Lisin took control of PGK in 2011 after it was separated from the Russian Railways monopoly during the 2011 reforms.
($1 = 92.9370 rubles)
Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Elena Fabrichnaya; Additional reporting by Anastasia Lircchikova Writing by Alexander Morrow Editing by Andrew Osborne and David Evans
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