View from City Road: Privatisation prize for Kleinwort

Congratulations to Kleinwort Benson for winning what promises to be the privatisation prize of the decade, Gazprom of Russia. This is is no MMM. Gazprom is by far the largest company in Russia and it makes British Gas, its nearest international equivalent, look like a minnow. Rock-solid though it is by the standards of Eastern Europe investment prospects, valuing it for the purposes of a trade sale or international offering is going to be something else. Still, it is nice to see London still at the forefront of privatisation.