By Marcus Williams
A roster of investment banking heavyweights are biting at the leash following the news today that aluminum producer Rusal has concluded a debt restructuring deal on $7.4bn owed to Western creditors.
The agreement should pave the way for an initial public offering of as much as $2.5bn, or 10% of the company. Investment banking fees are likely to stretch into the double-digit millions of dollars for each of these banks.
Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas are expected to serve as lead managers for the IPO. Bank of America, Bank of China, Renaissance Capital, VTB Capital are believed to have secured book runner mandates.
US bank Goldman Sachs stepped back from a lead manager role last month after expressing reservations about the speed of the deal.
Rusal said it anticipates seeing strong demand from Asian investors. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Russian state development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) will take a stake of up to 3%. Rusal's supervisory board has already approved acquisition of shares costing about $600m.
The IPO is expected to value the company at approximately $20bn.
The listing committee of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing is tomorrow expected to give the green light for Rusal's IPO following the successful completion of the company's debt restructuring.
The long-delayed Rusal listing is aimed at giving the company breathing space to repay $16bn in debt built up when metal prices were at record highs before last year's financial meltdown. Rusal has applied for a dual listing in Hong Kong and on Paris's Euronext.
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