Russian rail operator RusTransCom, specialising on transportation of grain, mineral fertilisers, and timber, has postponed its plans to hold an IPO, the company said in a statement.

Previously the company unveiled its plans to hold an IPO at the London Stock Exchange and hopes to raise $300mn, which would make the first IPO of a Russian company in almost two years on the LSE.

Since the beginning of 2019 there have been a number of deals carried out on Russian equity market, after no deals since August 2018. However, the postponement of the SPO of meat major Cherkizovo, and now the IPO of RusTransCom, brings first slips to the trend.

While Cherkizovo reportedly could not raise enough bids at the price it set, RusTransCom claims to have received “received several proposals regarding private equity transactions, which are better aligned with the Group’s development strategy,” the company said in a statement.

Molesto Investments of Konstantin Sintsov and Konstantin Zasov that together hold 95.7% in the freight operator planned to offer part of RusTransCom shares. RusTransKom has put two independent directors on the board ahead of the IPO - Marcus Rhoads (former and Ernts & Young) and Will Ebott (BoA Merrill Lynch, Renaissance Capital, VTB Capital, Deutsche Bank/UFG).

RusTransCom operates 68,000 gondolas, more than half of which for the transportation of grain. In 2018 the company transported 60.7mn tonnes of grain, made revenues of RUB51.5bn, net profit of RUB11.6bn, and Ebitda margin of 60%.