Rusal may offer stakes to Chinese firms for IPO support

MOSCOW: Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska's aluminum producer United Co Rusal may offer stakes in smelters and mines to Chinese companies to ensure the success of its initial public offering in Hong Kong, analysts said.

The world's largest maker of the metal plans to sell a 10-percent stake to help repay more than $14 billion of debt. Rusal may seek to win Chinese State-owned companies as investors by offering production joint ventures and access to raw materials, said Chris Weafer, chief strategist at UralSib Financial Corp, and Eric Kraus, a strategy advisor at Otkritie Financial Co.

"The only way that Rusal can get a high valuation is if it gets a couple of big State-backed anchor investors," Weafer said in Moscow. "Chinese companies usually only buy if they can leverage this by getting access to projects or strategic assets."