Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg's Sual Partners, holder of a 15.8 percent stake in aluminium giant UC RUSAL, said the appointment on Friday of Barry Cheung as RUSAL's chairman was not in the long-term interests of the firm. Vekselberg quit as RUSAL chairman earlier this week, blaming the current management for creating a "deep crisis" at the company, which has seen its shares fall more than 65 percent from their 52-week high.
In a statement late on Friday, Sual Partners accused RUSAL of failing to carry out a thorough candidate search before it settled on Cheung, who also chairs the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKME). Sual is an investment vehicle representing the interests of the former owners - including billionaire Leonard Blavatnik among other investors - of the Siberian-Urals Aluminium Company, now part of RUSAL.
"The company should have completed a full-fledged examination of the candidates for the post of Chairman of the Board of Directors with the assistance of international consultants," Sual said. "Moreover, our stated position remains that the Board of Directors of the company, 80 percent of the assets of which are located in Russia, should be chaired by a Russian citizen, whose independence from any of the major shareholders of UC RUSAL is beyond any doubt."
RUSAL chief executive and controlling shareholder Oleg Deripaska acquired 10 percent of the HKME in June 2010 through his En+ Group. A company spokeswoman contacted by Reuters referred to Deripaska's published remarks on Friday, when he stated the company was "thrilled to have someone of Barry's caliber" as chairman.
RUSAL, the world's largest aluminium producer, is the subject of a strategic tug-of-war between Deripaska and other billionaires including Vekselberg and recent presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov. He holds 17 percent of RUSAL through his Onexim investment company. RUSAL is a leading low-cost producer thanks to its Siberian aluminium smelters that run on cheap hydro power from Soviet-era projects. However, it is saddled with $11 billion of debt, much of which was accumulated via the purchase of a 25 percent stake in Norilsk Nickel for about $14 billion in 2008.
The stake in the highly-profitable Arctic nickel and palladium miner is worth $9.47 billion, accounting for most of RUSAL's $11.06 billion market capitalisation. Selling the stake would allow RUSAL to largely wipe out its debt, but Deripaska has resisted calls to do so. He rejected Norilsk's $13 billion offer for the stake in December, 2010, as well as two lower bids in 2011. RUSAL's shares closed off 0.03 percent on Friday in Hong Kong at HK$5.59.