The British PR agency PRNewswire reported that Azerbaijan Methanol Company LLC (Azmeco), one of the leading private petrochemical companies in Azerbaijan, announced on Wednesday it was going to raise $1bn through bonds issue in London. Highgrove Securities LLP, the company's financial adviser says securities will be offered to investors in a private placement but might be traded publicly at London Stock Exchange in the future.
Azmeco is the biggest methanol producer in the region. Its major plant with 700 thousand metric tonnes capacity was commissioned in 2014 and is now supplying methanol to customers in Azerbaijan, Turkey and the rest of the world, including 180,000 tonnes a year marketed globally by BP Chemicals.
Nasib Piriyev, Azmeco's CEO said: "We have now finalised our agreements with international investors for refinancing the capital of Azerbaijan Methanol Company LLC.
The amount raised in London will be used to support continuing growth of the business and repay our outstanding loan from the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA).
"Support by the state-backed IBA was crucial to our success providing us with access to capital for the project at the early stages. Now, as it has become a mature and profitable business, Azmeco can be financed privately so IBA's funds could be freed up for other projects in Azerbaijan to boost the country's economic growth," he added.
It is noteworthy that this information came a day after the arrest of the owner of the company Nizami Piriyev in Baku and instituting criminal proceedings against him on charges of fraud. Nizami Piriyev became one of the oligarchs who were detained in connection with non-payment of loans to the International Bank of Azerbaijan.
* Azmeco is the largest producer of methanol in the region, and its plant with a capacity of 700 thousand tons was put into operation near Baku in 2014. Since the launch the plant produced 180,000 tons of methanol, which is sold to neighboring countries. -02B-
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