LONDON - The Moscow Exchange, Russia’s largest bourse, said Monday that it had priced its shares between 55 rubles ($1.83) to 63 rubles ($2.10), in a listing that would value the company at up to $4.6 billion.
The Russian company, which was formed through the merger of local exchanges Micex and RTS in 2011, expects to start trading its shares on Feb. 15, according to a statement released on Monday.The company expects to raise $500 million in its initial public offering on the Micex exchange.
The Moscow Exchange said it would use the money raised from the I.P.O. to upgrade its back-office technology and increase the capital levels at its clearing-house to be in line with tougher global regulatory standards.
The floatation would be one of the largest listings so far this year in Europe, and comes less than two weeks after President Vladimir Putin of Russia said any new local privatizations should take place on Russian exchanges, not international bourses.
The move is an effort to expand Russia’s presence in the financial markets by ensuring that large local companies list in Moscow instead of going overseas to raise money from investors.
The I.P.O. of Moscow Exchange also is the latest chapter in the changing landscape of the Continent’s financial exchanges.
In December, the London Stock Exchange Group revised the terms of its takeover proposal for LCH.Clearnet, offering to pay 15 euros ($20) for each share in the company because of changes in the regulatory environment.
Last year, European antitrust authorities opposed the merger betwe! en Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext because the deal would have reduced competition in European financial derivatives traded on exchanges.
Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, Sberbank and VTB Capital are handling the Moscow Exchange I.P.O.
