Deripaska courts banks to stabilise Rusal’s finances

Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch, is in a race against time to complete the $7.4 billion (?4.5 billion) refinancing of his aluminium empire before its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange will meet tomorrow to decide whether it will give Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer, a listing. Before that can happen Mr Deripaska has to secure a $7.4 billion refinancing package from 74 international banks. The terms of the refinancing deal have been agreed, but Rusal has only hours left to complete the documentation, which, given the number of institutions involved, will be a challenge. If the Hong Kong authorities give the IPO the go-ahead, Rusal is expected to list about 10 per cent of its stock, raising up to $3 billion. This money will be used to repay debt as the aluminium producer looks to stabilise its finances. Mr Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg, another oligarch shareholder in Rusal, will not receive proceeds from the IPO. While the debt negotiations have been going on, Rusal has also been talking to leading Asian investment institutions about becoming shareholders. These so-called cornerstone investors are expected to take a large portion of the IPO stock, but retail investors will also be offered shares. The China Investment Corporation (CIC), the $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, almost certainly will take a stake, insiders close to the deal said. Rusal has also been talking to GIC and Temasek, the Singaporean sovereign wealth funds. Brokers in Hong Kong and Singapore said that the sovereign wealth funds privately had shown interest in becoming cornerstone investors, but that the Singapore funds were nervous over the deal. One broker said that CIC may be operating under orders from Beijing to build a strategic stake, with obvious advantages in the global resource scramble that ultimately it is preparing for. A similar motivation may encourage Chinalco, the state-owned metals group, to buy a stake in Rusal. Chinalco already owns a 11 per cent stake in Rio Tinto, the London-listed mining group. VneshEconomBank (VEB), the Russian state-owned bank, is also expected to take a stake, although this has been seen as a symbolic gesture to show foreign investors that the Kremlin is behind the move. Rusal needs to raise cash to pay down its $16 billion of debt. The company borrowed heavily to expand in the boom years but was caught out by the crash in commodity prices a year ago. The IPO is also an important event for Hong Kong as Rusal is a significant catch for its stock exchange — the aluminium producer initially had looked for a listing in London. Bankers close to the deal said that Hong Kong could surpass London as the destination of choice for resource companies looking to list because it gives them better access to China, the world’s largest consumer of metals. Hong Kong is vying with Shanghai to be the primary exchange for foreign companies listing in China. Shanghai is closed to foreigners but that could change as early as next year. Hong Kong exchange insiders said that it needed some big non-Chinese listings to prove to the world that it was not merely a secondary market for mainland Chinese shares.