Nathaniel Rothschild’s private investment company may buy shares in United Company RusAl’s $2 billion Hong Kong initial public offering, three people familiar with the plan said Monday.
Paulson & Co., the New York hedge fund run by billionaire John Paulson, and Vneshekonombank also may be among so-called “cornerstone” investors guaranteed shares in the IPO in exchange for a pledge not to sell them for a number of months, the people said. They declined to be identified because the information is private.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has expressed interest in buying shares, though it would not invest as a cornerstone, one of the people said.
Billionaire Oleg Deripaska is trying to secure investors for the IPO, which will make RusAl the first Russian firm to list in Hong Kong. VEB may buy as much as a 3 percent, while other state-run lenders may also buy shares.
RusAl’s board approved a price that valued the company at $16 billion to $22 billion, the people said, declining to give a per share price. RusAl plans to start gauging demand for the sale Jan. 4 and begin an investor roadshow Jan. 12, one of the people said. The company declined to comment on possible investor interest in the IPO.
Rothschild, 38, a member of the famous banking family and co-chairman of New York hedge fund firm Atticus Capital, is a friend and an adviser to Deripaska.
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