The secondary public offering (SPO) by PJSC Positive Group won in the ‘Deal of the Year on the IPO/SPO Market’ category at the Russia M&A Awards. BCS Global Markets managed the offering, which was held on 19-28 September 2022, raising 1 billion roubles.

The award winners are traditionally chosen through a poll among the professional community.

The success of Positive Technologies’ SPO was driven by the support from the major brokers and a strong appeal to retail investors, as well as the details of the deal. 

It was the first time in the history of the Russian IPO/SPO market that a company introduced an offer, stirring an interest among a wide range of investors in a difficult market and boosting liquidity and investor interest in the company’s shares for the next year.

As part of the offer, every investor has the right to buy one extra share within the next 12 months at the SPO price for every four shares purchased during the offering, regardless of the current market price.

In general, the novel path that Positive Technologies chose to access the stock market, i.e. through direct listing with a subsequent SPO, has been hailed as an innovative alternative to a traditional IPO by professional market participants.

The SPO also helped improve the offering procedure, which implied the sale of shares by several shareholders at once. 

“The SPO by Positive Technologies is a signal that a top-notch issuer can successfully list their shares even in a turbulent market in Russia, and BCS Global Markets has the right expertise to execute a well-prepared and structured transactions under any circumstances," said Andrey Chepur, Managing Director of ECM, BCS Global Markets.