Oman consortium buys stake in gold and silver miner

Polymetal

• Maaden acquires Polymetal stake
• Target is top 10 gold miner
• Sell-off of Russian assets

Oman’s Maaden International Investment has acquired almost a quarter of the Anglo-Russian gold and silver producer Polymetal International.

The 23.9 percent stake was bought for an undisclosed sum from Powerboom Investments, a subsidiary of ICT Holding, which is owned by the Russian businessman Alexander Nesis.

Polymetal was founded by Nesis in 1998. It is among the world’s top 10 gold miners, and a top five silver producer, with assets across Russia and Kazakhstan.

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The company has been actively engaged in selling its Russian assets, which were sanctioned by the US last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Vitaly Nesis, brother of Alexander, and Polymetal’s group CEO, said: “We are pleased that the shareholder has confirmed its full support of Polymetal’s strategy, which includes de-risking the company’s business by disposing its Russian operation and further developing its asset base in Kazakhstan and the wider region.”

Maaden International Investment, which acquired more than 113 million shares in Polymetal through the deal, is made up of a consortium of investors from the sultanate, led by the state-owned Mercury Investments International.

The transaction means that ICT Holding has fully disposed of its stake in Polymetal, and Konstantin Yanakov, who represented ICT Holding, has resigned from the board of directors.

The US investment fund Blackrock owns a 9.9 percent stake in the company, according to Polymetal’s website, and an Amsterdam-based company called Fodina BV holds 3.3 percent. The rest of the shareholders consist of institutional investors and individuals (62 percent) and management and directors (0.9 percent).