LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – The Guardian reports that the £3.75bn stock market listing of Russian mining giant Rusal is in the balance as key executives from the world’s biggest aluminium producer are locked in talks with the Financial Services Authority over the disclosure of potential legal liabilities that the firm may face in the future.
Rusal needs the FSA, which assesses the suitability of companies to raise money on the public markets, to give it a clean bill of health before the London Stock Exchange can start work on paving the way for a float.
But sources suggest that there are several potential sources of legal disputes. Oligarch Michael Cherney filed a lawsuit last year against Rusal chairman Oleg Deripaska over a deal under which Cherney sold his shares to Deripaska. Cherney wants 20 per cent of Rusal. One insider said others may be considering making claims against the firm.
Deripaska intends to float a 25 per cent stake of Rusal in November. This timetable is now in danger of slipping although Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are thought to have been hired by Rusal to co-ordinate the public offering. Rusal emerged in its current form this year after it merged with Sual and Glencore. A spokesman for Rusal said: ‘An IPO within three years is a condition of Rusal’s merger agreement, finalised in March 2007. However, the board of directors has taken no final decision, nor has any timetable been agreed.’
