The exchange execs have recently been in talks with potential SPO arrangers, said a source.

According to him, the exchange plans an SPO in 1H 2014 года, prior to the annual GSM, allowing to form a new Advisory Board with 15 members instead of 19. The source also claims that the acting Advisory Board Chairman Sergey Shvetsov could step down at the GSM.

SPO meetings were held with JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Sberbank CIB and VTB Capital, confirmed another financial market source, adding that official SPO arranger mandates have not yet been assigned to investment banks. The SPO could happen in late 1Q, he said.

Another financial market source also confirmed that the 1H 2014 SPO issue has been on the Advisory Board agenda.

Whether the CB will sell the entire stock or part of it, is unclear, says one of the sources.

The Bank of Russia owns 22.5% of the Moscow Exchange, and has planned to exit the exchange completely within two years following the February 2013 IPO. The IPO raised RUB 15bn, with shares priced at RUB 55.

According to the Central Bank Act, the CB must exit the stock exchange by 1 January 2016. So far, the Bank of Russia Board of Directors has not discussed the sale of the Moscow Exchange stock, according to the CB press office.

Apart from the CB, major stock exchange stakeholders are Sberbank (MOEX: SBER) (9.6%), VEB (8.0%), EBRD (5.8%), Micex-Finans (6.6%), China Investment Corp (5.4%).

Unicredit Bank announced in early November that it had sold the entire stake (5.711%) in Moscow Exchange. In end-October, VTB (MOEX: VTBR) decreased its MOEX participation from 5.1% до 3.6%. VTB was expected to receive a similar amount of shares as part of the sale of Societe Generale’s stake in Rosbank (MOEX: ROSB).

Project Group №1