Aluminium giant Rusal to float in Hong Kong

DIRECTORS of Rusal, the aluminium giant controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, are this week expected to approve a float valuing it at $US30 billion ($34.5bn). The float, to take place in Hong Kong, will be one of the biggest of the year. Rusal, the world's biggest aluminium maker, plans to list 10 per cent of its shares on the Asian market. Advisers at Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are ready to file a prospectus before the end of the week if the board gives the green light. Rusal is understood to have opted for Hong Kong partly because of a lawsuit in London in which Mikhail Chernoy, a former associate of Mr Deripaska, is claiming more than $US4bn worth of shares in the group. The Asian bourse has also seen huge demand from Chinese investors for metals stocks. The float is conditional on the resolution of long-running talks to restructure the company's $US16bn of debt.