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Rusal to Pay for Complete Control over Itself
Russian Aluminum (Rusal) has started buying out the stocks from minority holders of its seven plants and a research institute. Once the deals are completed, Rusal owner, Oleg Deripaska, will get complete control of his all assets, which he needs to do before consolidating with another metal giant of Russia, SUAL.
Rusal announced Tuesday it is buying out the stocks from minority holders of its alumina and aluminum plants and of All-Russia’s Aluminum and Magnesium Institute. Rusal and its affiliates currently own 95.1 percent to 99.8 percent in those assets, so to reach the 100-percent control, Deripaska has to purchase 1 percent to 4.9 percent in them. The deals are due to complete by late this year and their aggregate worth is estimated at around $30 million.
Officially, Rusal attributes these buying activities to recent amendments to the Joint Stock Company Act that enabled the owners of 95 percent to pressurize minority holders into selling their stocks. The latter can only argue about the value of their ownership. Quite a lot of companies intend to benefit from the amendments, but Rusal has outrun the others. And it didn’t happen by chance – the company has been consolidating the assets since 2001 and has long craved for such opportunity. The tricky point is that most lawyers think it is too early to apply the amendments and their application could be challenged in courts.
Another reason of the purchase could be setting the stage for consolidating with SUAL and preparing the IPO. “It will be cheaper to buy the stocks now than once the assets are consolidated raising the IPO possibility, which will give them the fair assessment,” explained Alfa Bank analyst Vladimir Zhukov.
SUAL also considers whether to buy out the stakes from its minors, the company’s representative Alexander Prokhorov said. Both Rusal and SUAL deny any ties between the purchase and “rumors about their consolidation.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 30, 2006
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