RUSAL seeks HK approval for December listing

HONG KONG, Nov 4 - UC RUSAL, the world's top aluminium producer, will seek Hong Kong listing committee approval this month, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said on Wednesday. The debt-burdened Russian company aims to raise about $2 billion through a dual listing in Hong Kong and Europe. RUSAL also planned to list on Euronext Paris, said the sources, who were not authorised to speak publicly about the offering. The primary listing would take place in Hong Kong and the secondary listing in Paris, the sources said. RUSAL, controlled by Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, aimed to obtain listing approval in Hong Kong on Nov. 26 and to make its trading debut in December, although the IPO was contingent on progress with its debt restructuring, the sources said. RUSAL is urgently trying to reach a deal with its foreign creditors on $7.3 billion of debt by mid-November. "The debt restructing is an important milestone for RUSAL to proceed with its IPO," one of the sources said. A spokeswoman for the company said the restructuring would be completed soon, but would not comment directly on the IPO plan. BNP Paribas , BOC International, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs are handling RUSAL's offering.