Polyus Gold confirms sale of 7.5 percent stake

Russia’s Polyus Gold confirmed its intention on Thursday of selling a 7.49 percent stake held by its subsidiary Jenington International, Inc..

The company is selling the stake as part of its attempt to achieve a premium listing in London, Reuters reports.

“It remains Polyus Gold’s intention that Jenington should dispose of its stake in Polyus Gold and it continues to review its options for doing so in the short term,” Polyus announced on Thursday, according to Reuters.

Based on current market valuations, the 7.5 percent stake would be worth approximately $700 million, although Polyus said that there was no assurance as to whether the sale of the stake would go through. Polyus was hesitant to release a statement because of insecurity due to choppy market conditions and investor demands for substantial discounts. Negotiations for the sale of the stake are ongoing, and Polyus made the announcement only following significant media speculation.

Polyus Gold is the largest gold producer in Russia and hopes that a premium listing in London will help place it in a better position to take part in the recent trend of mergers sweeping across the metals and mining industry.