Russian steel group TMK has hired Raiffeisen Bank to manage the sale of shares in its Romanian subsidiary TMK Artrom Slatina, a producer of steel pipes.

The share sale will likely be a private placement in the Bucharest Stock Exchange, similar to the one recently carried out by aluminum producer Alro Slatina, according to several sources in the market quoted by Ziarul Financiar daily. TMK holds, through TMK Europe GMBH, nearly 93% of TMK Artrom.

In the last six months, TMK Artrom’s shares soared by 30% while, the Bucharest Stock Exchanges' blue chip index BET lost 7.8%. The company is currently valued at EUR 106 million.

TMK Artrom recently announced plans to expand its production capacity from 200,000 tonnes of industrial pipes annually to 320,000 tonnes by 2024. It reported a turnover of RON 1.4 billion (EUR 300 million) in 2018, up 18% compared to the previous year. By shifting to higher value-added products, the company was able to charge 31% higher prices (per ton).

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Facebook/TMK Artrom)