Russian car-sharing firm Delimobil raises $46 mln in Moscow IPO

* This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine

MOSCOW, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Russian car-sharing service Delimobil said on Tuesday it had raised 4.2 billion roubles ($46.4 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Moscow Exchange, the first of several market debuts expected in the country in 2024.

A handful of small capital raises late last year sparked some life into Russia's moribund equity capital markets, which have been subdued since Western capital flooded out after Moscow despatched its army to Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian companies raised only around 140 billion roubles in nine IPOs and four SPOs (secondary public offerings) last year, highlighting the currently

limited scope

of public listings, with retail investors snapping up large portions. The Moscow Exchange hopes for over 20 in 2024.

Delimobil said more than 45,000 retail investors had participated in the offering, with their total volume of acquired shares equating to that of institutional investors.

The IPO was priced at 265 roubles per share, the upper end of Delimobil's price range, giving the company an estimated market capitalisation of 46.6 billion roubles. The free-float was 9%.

Delimobil said the funds raised would be used for business development and debt reduction.

Founded in 2015, Delimobil is one of Russia's biggest car-sharing providers with a fleet of over 24,000 vehicles and more than 9 million registered users in 10 cities.

Delimobil's listing perhaps best exemplifies the stark new realities for Russian firms going public.

In 2021, prior to Russia launching what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine, Delimobil had been planning to raise as much as $240 million in a U.S. listing. Sources later told Reuters the company was hoping to raise $350 million by listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

Delimobil's stock will begin trading on Feb. 7 under the DELI.MM ticker. ($1 = 90.4425 roubles) (Reporting by Olga Popova; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kim Coghill)