Amtel-Vredestein to launch IPO on London Stock Exchange

By Liz White, ERJ staff

Amsterdam, the Netherlands-Amtel-Vredestein NV announced 20 Oct its intention to launch a public offering of ordinary shares. Tyre producer Amtel Vredestein is incorporated in the Netherlands and headquartered in Moscow. It has manufacturing plants in Russia and in the Netherlands.

Amtel said the offering is intended to include shares currently held by some of the company's existing shareholders as well as new shares and will be offered outside the US to international institutional investors in the form of global depository receipts (GDRs). The group intends to seek a listing of these GDRs on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Amtel said its tyre business was launched in 1997: by 2004 the company had become one of the three largest tyre manufacturers in the CIS. Its operations were expanded into western Europe in April 2005 when Amtel acquired premium tyre maker Vredestein Banden.

The picture shows Amtel chief executive Alex Gurin (right) with Vredestein boss Rob Oudshoorn at the Moscow event 23 Aug when the Vredestein high performance tyre brand was launched in Russia.