Millhouse, which is controlled by Roman Abramovich, will close a deal by early May to buy 5.39 percent in Norilsk Nickel from Interros and RusAl in an effort to end a conflict between the two main shareholders of the nickel producer, Vedomosti reported Tuesday.
Sources close to Norilsk Nickel and its shareholders said the signing of documents on the sale would begin on Tuesday or Wednesday. The deal is set to be closed by April 27-30.
RusAl plans to close the deal by the end of April, a company spokesman said.
All other parties in the transaction — Millhouse, Interros, and Norilsk Nickel — declined to comment.
Millhouse said earlier that it might bring its stake in the mining company to 10 percent.
It was not immediately clear whether Abramovich's company already owned any Norilsk Nickel shares.
In the fall of 2012, Interros' owner German Potanin and RusAl's principal shareholder Oleg Deripaska met with Abramovich and former presidential Chief of Staff Valentin Yumashev to discuss ways to settle the long-standing conflict between Potanin and Deripaska.
It was decided that both sides will sell Norilsk Nickel stock to Millhouse, which will serve as an arbiter.
Kirill Chuiko, an analyst at BKS, said the end of the conflict between Norilsk Nickel's owners was good news for investors, because it guaranteed consistent dividends, transparency and better corporate governance.
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