TMK May Consider Selling Shares in U.S. Unit IPO to Cut Debt

OAO TMK, the world’s largest pipe producer by output, may consider an initial public offering of shares in its U.S. unit to cut debt as funding costs rise amid the crisis in Ukraine, shareholder Dmitry Pumpyansky said.

“If there were no such political situation and we had access to alternative sources of funding, we wouldn’t be considering this option at all,” Pumpyansky said in an interview in London yesterday. The IPO plans are “abstract,” but possible under “certain conditions,” he said.