Russia's biggest petrochemical holding, Sibur, is likely to decide on a possible initial public offering and/or attracting a strategic partner after a new investment program for the next five years is finalized next summer, according to the company's key shareholder Leonid Mikhelson.
"I believe it will be more viable to consider new partners or an IPO next summer -- when we'll have clearer figures on [Sibur's] investment program for the next five years and a major polypropylene project with a capacity of 500,000 mt/year will be launched," Mikhelson, who owns a 57.5% stake in Sibur, said.
Sibur is likely to see a higher market value after the new polypropylene plant in Tobolsk, West Siberia, is launched, boosting the company's EBITDA, Mikhelson said.
In addition, the company expects to develop by the end of June 2013 a front-end engineering design study for a project to produce 1.5 million mt/year of ethylene, which would allow it finalize its investment program for the next five years, he said.
Mikhelson added that the market situation is not favorable for an IPO at present, so "the later it will be done, the more successful it could be."
Last week, Sibur signed an agreement with Germany's Linde to develop the FEED study for an ethylene cracker in Tobolsk in the West Siberian Tyumen region.
The project, designed to produce 1.5 million mt/year of ethylene is set to become the largest facility of its type in Russia, Sibur said at the time.
"Sibur is commencing comprehensive development of its largest project which will change the image of the company and of the Russian petrochemical sector," Mikhelson said at the time.
Sibur invested a total of Rb55.5 billion ($1.7 billion) in new projects last year, according to the company's website.
