RUSAL wants more nickel

He is interested in acquiring another 2% stake in MMC

The united company RUSAL does not intend to be content with the 25% plus one share stake in Norilsk Nickel, which it will acquire from Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim group. Yesterday, the aluminum company announced that it intends to buy out another 2% stake in the nickel giant from KM-Invest, the joint fund of Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov. “The corresponding official letter was sent to the general director of KM-Invest on December 24,” RUSAL said in a statement. Norilsk Nickel’s capitalization on the RTS as of December 24 was $50.76 billion, so a two percent stake could cost about $1 billion. “We can’t talk about the price; the seller must set it,” the director told Vremya Novostei RUSAL public relations officer Vera Kurochkina. KM-Invest declined to comment.

Mikhail Prokhorov owns 28.2% of Norilsk Nickel shares, Vladimir Potanin - 25.3% of shares. 8% of the company's shares are managed by their joint fund KM-Invest. Through a number of offshore companies, he also owns and manages 7.4% of Polyus Gold shares, 69% of Rosbank shares, 55.6% of Open Investments shares, 100% of Profmedia shares, 100% of Interros Estate shares. , 98.1% shares of the Rosa Khutor company, 87.7% shares of the Soglasie insurance company, 25.8% shares of RUSIA Petroleum. The value of assets managed by KM-Invest is more than $11 billion.

As reported, the board of directors of the KM-Invest fund, at the initiative of Mr. Potanin, on December 19 approved the sale of about 2% (of the existing 8%) shares of Norilsk Nickel and 7.4% of shares of Polyus Gold. Although Mr. Prokhorov's representatives opposed these transactions, a positive decision was made, since according to the company's charter, a transaction amounting to up to 25% of the book value of assets can be approved by a simple majority of votes. It is assumed that all transactions will take place on market conditions.

After Mr. Potanin on December 21 refused to repurchase a blocking stake in Norilsk Nickel for $15.7 billion, an agreement on the purchase by RUSAL of 25% plus one share of the Norilsk company from the Onexim group came into force. “This transaction will be the first step towards creating the first global diversified mining and metallurgical corporation in Russia,” RUSAL said in a statement. The company also said it had submitted a request for approval of the transaction to regulatory authorities in seven countries, including the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation. It is expected that the deal with Onexim will be completed in the first quarter of 2008.

According to experts, RUSAL is unlikely to limit itself to purchasing a 2% stake in Norilsk Nickel. Most likely, the company at the first stage is interested in all shares managed by KM-Invest. According to a Vremya Novostei source, according to the initial agreements, RUSAL was ultimately going to acquire 29% plus one share of Norilsk Nickel from Onexim. “At the time of closing the deal to purchase a stake of 25% plus one share of Norilsk Nickel, the aluminum company agreed to purchase a four percent stake in MMC for approximately $2.032 billion,” a source close to the deal explained to Vremya Novostei. Ms. Kurochkina confirmed the company's interest in increasing the stake. “If Norilsk Nickel shares are put up for sale, we intend to participate in their acquisition,” she told Vremya Novostey.

According to experts, Mr. Potanin is unlikely to prevent RUSAL from acquiring a 2% stake in Norilsk Nickel. After all, this package will not give the aluminum company any additional rights in managing the nickel company.

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MMC Norilsk Nickel and RUSAL, in the event of a merger, will pay taxes in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, believes the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, former top manager of the MMC, Alexander Khloponin. “This is the most important task of state independence - the creation of transnational corporations without the participation of foreign capital,” he said. As you know, RUSAL is buying 25% plus one share of Norilsk Nickel from the president of the Onexim fund, Mikhail Prokhorov. Shareholders of both metallurgical companies recognized that the deal could be the beginning of their merger. According to Mr. Khloponin, a possible merger of Norilsk Nickel and RUSAL would have a positive impact on tax payments to the budget of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. “It’s no secret that Norilsk Nickel is one of the main sources of tax revenues for the region’s budget. The conditions, the basic principles that will be laid down in the creation of the corporation do not imply any changes in the structure of Norilsk Nickel’s functioning. From this point of view, both assets and taxes will be preserved in full,” said Mr. Khloponin. INTERFAX

Irina TSYRULEVA