UC RUSAL sees Chinese as key IPO investors

* Wants Chinese backing before roadshow * Foreign debt restructuring talks still unresolved By Polina Devitt and Dmitry Sergeyev MOSCOW, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Russian aluminium giant UC RUSAL is targeting major Chinese investors as cornerstones of its planned $2 billion IPO and will start a roadshow in December if it secures their backing, a source familiar with the company's plans told Reuters. "RUSAL has been talking with possible cornerstones for its IPO for several months already. Three to four Chinese companies have shown their interest," the source said. Another source familiar with the deal confirmed RUSAL -- controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska -- will be ready to start meeting investors as early as Nov. 30. However, the world's largest aluminium producer has still to reach a key deal with Western banks to restructure $7.3 billion of foreign debts -- crucial for the producer's plans to sell shares this year -- although the talks are continuing. UC RUSAL declined to comment. UNSETTLED DEBT UC RUSAL, created in a three-way merger deal in 2007, is struggling with losses and a hefty debt pile after the global recession battered demand for aluminium. It plans to run an investor roadshow in Europe, the United States and Asia, but is unlikely to find any solid demand for its shares unless the debt deal is signed, the sources said. "It is unlikely that RUSAL will start meeting investors if the documents (on debt restructuring) are not signed. It would look strange... A company with unsettled debt problems is unlikely to find a demand for its shares," one Western banker told Reuters. "There are technical procedures running now, the debt restructuring will be complete by the end of November," the source familiar with the debt restructuring process said. The company had planned to settle the debt issue by Nov. 12, sources told Reuters, but the deadline has slipped amid tough talks with more than 70 foreign creditors. "November 19th is not a problem, but after that it becomes harder (to do the IPO in 2009)," another source familiar with the talks said. "The timing is defined by the Christmas holidays, the company should go public before then," the source familiar with the deal said. (Additional reporting by Oksana Kobzeva; writing by Dmitry Sergeyev; editing by John Bowker and Simon Jessop)