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Rusal plans $2.6bn IPO, reveals poor H1

Hong Kong, December 31, 2009

Russia's UC Rusal revealed its $2.6 billion Hong Kong IPO plans on Thursday, and for the first time, disclosed key financial information to the public, showing a brutal first half of 2009.

Rusal, the world's largest aluminium maker, plans to offer 1.6 billion shares at a range of HK$9.10 ($1.17) to HK$12.50 each, the announcement said, with a listing date of January 27.

The IPO is a major achievement for the Russian company, which is trying to raise cash to repay $14.9 billion in debt, and a big step for Hong Kong, which is trying to attract more publicly listed companies from beyond Asia.

The process has been slow, as Hong Kong regulators rarely review IPOs of large companies outside of Asia, never mind a Russian company like Rusal which has run into legal snags. The listing of Rusal in Hong Kong would be one of the first major listings of a non-Asian company here and would be the first ever Hong Kong-Paris dual listing.

Rusal's prospectus is 1,141 pages.

Privately held Rusal said in its IPO prospectus that it posted a $868 million loss for the six months ended June 30 compared to a profit of $1.41 billion in the year ago period.

The company forecast a full-year profit for 2009 of "not less than $434 million."

Total revenues for 2008 were $15.69 billion, according to the company, up more than $2 billion from the previous year.

Revenues by mid year 2009 hit $3.76 billion compared with $8.35 billion in the year ago period.

The IPO attracted a list of big name investors including Nathaniel Rothschild's private investment company; Robert Kuok Hock Nien, a Malaysian-Chinese businessman said to be worth around $10 billion; and Paulson & Co., the New York hedge fund run by billionaire John Paulson.

Rothschild and Paulson are each committing to buy 71 million shares, paying in the range of $50 million to $100 million. Kuok plans to pay around $20 million for 14.3 million shares, the prospectus says.

Rusal plans to start pre-marketing of the IPO on Jan. 5, with a roadshow starting on Jan. 11 and pricing on Jan. 21.

BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse are the joint sponsors and global coordinators.

The joint bookrunners are BofA-Merrill, BOCI, Nomura Holdings , Renassiance Capital, Sberbank and VTB Capital, with Rothschild acting as the financial advisor. – Reuters




Tags: IPO | aluminium | Hong Kong | H1 | Rusal |

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