MOSCOW, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Russia's UC RUSAL, the world's top aluminum firm, will sign final debt-restructuring agreements on Nov 26 with banks, clearing the main hurdle blocking its share sale plans, several sources said on Saturday.
In addition, they told Reuters RUSAL will hold a meeting on Nov 25 to advance a deal with China North Industries Corp (NORINCO) over a possible pre-payment for future aluminium shipments worth about $3 billion that could encourage investors concerned about the company's finances.
They added RUSAL will launch a roadshow for an initial public offering (IPO) of up to 10 percent of its shares on Nov 30.
'The IPO will indeed take place, since we have already reached a restructuring agreement,' a source close to state-owned bank VTB said. 'The agreement will be signed on the 26th. Not in Moscow.'
The company wants to carry out a dual listing in the Hong Kong and Paris exchanges.
RUSAL owes $7.4 billion to foreign banks and has extended a standstill agreement with them numerous times. It wants to use the proceeds from the share sale to pay down some of its debt.
The firm also owes $2.8 billion to Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim Group, which also holds a minority stake in RUSAL, and it owes about $2 billion to VTB, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, as well as $4.5 billion to state-owned VEB, putting its total at $16.8 billion.
Onexim has already adjusted its agreement on the repayment of the $2.8 billion, and VEB has agreed to extend its $4.5 billion loan to RUSAL by 12 months.
A source at a foreign bank confirmed the final signing will take place on Nov 26.
'Everything is going according to plan, nothing can go wrong,' he said.
Russian state banks are expected to be the principal buyers of the share issue, with VEB purchasing a major stake.
VTB head Andrei Kostin on Saturday told Reuters the investment banking division will make a decision on the purchase and that he did not give them any instructions.
'VTB Capital is dealing with it, I haven't given them any orders,' Kostin said.
RUSAL's valuation is often estimated at between $20-$30 billion, meaning the company might raise more than $2 billion via the share sale.
(Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva, Dmitry Sergeyev and Denis Pinchuk; writing by Alfred Kueppers; editing by James Jukwey) Keywords: RUSAL/DEBT (alfred.kueppers@thomsonreuters.com; Tel +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: alfred.kueppers@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
In addition, they told Reuters RUSAL will hold a meeting on Nov 25 to advance a deal with China North Industries Corp (NORINCO) over a possible pre-payment for future aluminium shipments worth about $3 billion that could encourage investors concerned about the company's finances.
They added RUSAL will launch a roadshow for an initial public offering (IPO) of up to 10 percent of its shares on Nov 30.
'The IPO will indeed take place, since we have already reached a restructuring agreement,' a source close to state-owned bank VTB said. 'The agreement will be signed on the 26th. Not in Moscow.'
The company wants to carry out a dual listing in the Hong Kong and Paris exchanges.
RUSAL owes $7.4 billion to foreign banks and has extended a standstill agreement with them numerous times. It wants to use the proceeds from the share sale to pay down some of its debt.
The firm also owes $2.8 billion to Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim Group, which also holds a minority stake in RUSAL, and it owes about $2 billion to VTB, Sberbank and Alfa-Bank, as well as $4.5 billion to state-owned VEB, putting its total at $16.8 billion.
Onexim has already adjusted its agreement on the repayment of the $2.8 billion, and VEB has agreed to extend its $4.5 billion loan to RUSAL by 12 months.
A source at a foreign bank confirmed the final signing will take place on Nov 26.
'Everything is going according to plan, nothing can go wrong,' he said.
Russian state banks are expected to be the principal buyers of the share issue, with VEB purchasing a major stake.
VTB head Andrei Kostin on Saturday told Reuters the investment banking division will make a decision on the purchase and that he did not give them any instructions.
'VTB Capital is dealing with it, I haven't given them any orders,' Kostin said.
RUSAL's valuation is often estimated at between $20-$30 billion, meaning the company might raise more than $2 billion via the share sale.
(Reporting by Oksana Kobzeva, Dmitry Sergeyev and Denis Pinchuk; writing by Alfred Kueppers; editing by James Jukwey) Keywords: RUSAL/DEBT (alfred.kueppers@thomsonreuters.com; Tel +7 495 775 1242; Reuters Messaging: alfred.kueppers@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
