Russia’s UC Rusal board sets IPO price range

MOSCOW: The board of Russian aluminium company UC Rusal has set a price range for its Hong Kong IPO valuing the company at between US$16bil and US$22bil, Vedomosti daily said on Friday, quoting banking sources. The sources also told Vedomosti that BlackRock as well as sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp would take part in the IPO, which is off limits for ordinary investors. The daily said the deal was expected to close by Jan 20. It said UC Rusal would split the existing 13,500 shares into 1.35 billion shares ahead of the offering, suggesting the price per share would be at US$13.70–US$18.90, according to the proposed price range. The proposed valuation, based on recommendations of the IPO organisers, would make UC Rusal the world’s most expensive aluminium company. The market capitalisation of its competitor Alcoa stood at US$15.6bil, according to Reuters data. Vedomosti said UC Rusal plans to start pre-marketing on Jan 5 and its roadshow is scheduled for Jan 11. Russian state bank VEB, which bailed out the indebted firm last year, plans to buy nearly a third of the 10% of ?vshares on offer. — Reuters