Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg's Renova Group has sold its stake in Russian gold producer Petropavlovsk, Renova spokesman Andrey Shtorkh told Reuters on Wednesday.
"The deal is closed, we are not disclosing the details," Shtorkh said. He declined to disclose the price of the deal and the buyer of the stake.
Petropavlovsk declined to comment.
The Interfax news agency reported that the 22 per cent stake in Petropavlovsk was purchased by Kazakh businessman Kenges Rakishev, the former largest shareholder in Kazakhstan's Kazkommertsbank and a co-owner of Kazakhstan-focused base metals producer Central Asia Metals via his Cyprus-based firm Fincraft Holdings Ltd.
Rakishev was not available for immediate comment. According to Kazakhstan's finance ministry, Fincraft is affiliated with another Rakishev firm, SAT & Company.
Part of Rakishev's stake - 9 per cent - is currently held by VTB, Russia's second-largest lender, as part of their REPO borrowing deal, a separate regulatory statement by Petropavlovsk showed.
Shares in Petropavlovsk, which owns gold deposits in Russia's far eastern Amur region, were unchanged in London by 1619 GMT.
Its market capitalisation has risen 8 per cent so far this year to $331 million, according to Reuters data.
Reporting by Polina Devitt and Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by David Evans.