Rusal, Interros Near Loan Agreements With Sberbank - Sources
August 08 2010 - 7:01PM
Dow Jones News
Russian state-controlled bank OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS) is ready to
extend a helping hand to billionaires fighting for control of the
country's largest miner, OAO Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.RS), people
familiar with the matter said.
The bank is close to signing loan agreements that would ease
debt problems of both aluminum giant United Co. Rusal (0486.HK), in
which Oleg Deripaska is the major shareholder and chief executive,
and Interros Holding, controlled by Vladimir Potanin, the people
said. Each company has an approximately one-quarter stake in
Norilsk, the world's largest producer of nickel.
Rusal, which has a debt of about $12 billion, is close to
signing a deal with the bank that will see the aluminum company
refinancing its $4.5 billion debt to the state development bank
Vnesheconombank, or VEB, which is due in the late fall, two people
said The agreement in principle has been reached prior to Rusal's
initial public offering of its shares on the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange in January, and the final deal is expected shortly.
VEB provided the loan, to which Rusal has mortgaged its shares
in Norilsk in late 2008, to refinance the aluminum company's debt
to a pool of international banks. According to the people, the new
agreement will also see Rusal's stake in Norilsk mortgaged, but its
tenor would be extended till 2013.
Interros, which faces an approximately $1 billion debt repayment
to another state-controlled bank VTB (VTBR.RS) later this year, is
also close to getting a credit line of about $1.5 billion from
Sberbank, according to other two people, familiar with the
situation.
Interros was trying to get a syndicated loan from a pool of
international banks, headed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and
Credit Suisse earlier this year. However, the talks didn't bear
fruit as banks hesitated to provide funds during the markets' chaos
in early summer, which was followed by Norilsk's annual general
meeting and rancor among shareholders.
Interros is still in talks with other international banks,
people said.
Rusal has voiced dissatisfaction with the outcome of Norilsk's
annual meeting June 28, as well as with the company's strategy and
management. At the meeting, Rusal's board representation fell to
three people from four, and Chairman Alexander Voloshin, whom Rusal
supported, was ousted. Rusal has repeatedly accused both Interros
and Norilsk management of irregularities during the meeting, and
called for replacement of the company's current CEO Vladimir
Strzhalkovsky. Rusal has already complained about the situation to
the country's financial markets watchdog and to the Russian
president Dmitri Medvedev.
Both Interros and Norilsk management deny any wrongdoing.
-By Alexander Kolyandr, Dow Jones Newswires;
alexander.kolyandr@dowjones.com
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