Oct 2 (Reuters) - Russian technology company Astra on Monday said it was planning to list its shares on Moscow Exchange this month in an initial public offering (IPO), potentially breathing some life into Russia's moribund equity capital markets.
Electric scooter firm Whoosh (WUSH.MM) was the only Russian firm to hold an IPO last year, but its debut raised less than half its initial target and relied heavily on Russian retail investors for capital.
Astra dominates Russia's operating system (OS) market with its Astra Linux software.
Alfa Bank analysts valued Astra, which more than doubled its core earnings year on year to 5.4 billion roubles in 2022, at around 70 billion-90 billion roubles ($707 million-$909 million) in a report published on Monday.
Also on Monday, spirits producer Kristall said it was hoping to raise 1.5 billion roubles in a fourth quarter IPO on Moscow Exchange, something it said would significantly accelerate growth.
Persons:
pipemaker, Ilya Sivtsev, Sivtsev, Kristall, Alexander Marrow, Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan
Organizations:
Astra, Moscow, Astra Linux, Reuters, Alfa Bank, Moscow Exchange, Thomson
Locations:
Russian, Ukraine