UC Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer, confirmed on December 31 that it plans to raise as much 2.6 billion US dollars in its Hong Kong initial public offering next month. The Russian metals giant plans to sell 1.6 billion shares at a price between 9.10 Hong Kong dollars (1.20 US dollars) and 12.50 dollars, it said in a statement to the city's stock exchange.
The shares will be priced by January 22 with trading set to begin on January 27, the company said. Rusal's IPO - the first for a Russian company on Hong Kong's exchange - will only be sold to institutions and "professional investors" who must buy at least one-million Hong Kong dollars worth of shares.
The rare stipulation is reportedly a condition imposed by the city's market watchdog, the Securities and Futures Commission, to discourage retail investors from taking part in the highly complicated offering.
The announcement came after weeks of uncertainty about the sale as Hong Kong's bourse delayed making a decision on whether to green light the IPO, reportedly amid concerns about Rusal's 16.8 billion US dollar debt. The Moscow-based company, controlled by tycoon Oleg Deripaska, has reached an agreement with creditors to restructure the debt racked up when metal prices plunged in the wake of last year's financial crisis.
There was also speculation that regulators worried about unproven allegations that Deripaska had links to organised crime. Rusal's IPO plans got a boost this week when it secured four so-called cornerstone investors: Malaysian-Chinese tycoon Robert Kuok, New York hedge fund Paulson & Co, European banking family scion Nathaniel Rothschild and Russian state development bank Vneshekonombank, or VEB.
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