Political wrangling in Mongolia is delaying the $2 billion to $3 billion IPO of mining company Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, according to sources in the country. The deal, which would be Mongolia’s largest ever equity offering, is expected to transform the country’s economy by providing thousands of jobs, revitalizing its stock market, and bringing in billions of dollars of outside investment as well as providing direct economic benefit to citizens in the form of allocations of shares. The government itself is keen to get the deal done before the forthcoming election. However, two pressing political problems are threatening that deadline.
The first problem is where to list the company. The government has insisted from the outset that Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, which will operate one of the country’s largest coal deposits, list in Mongolia as a means of bringing much-needed liquidity to the country’s moribund exchange. The problem...
