PARIS — A French regulator cleared the secondary listing of United Company RusAl on Monday, paving the way for the aluminum group's flotation in Europe and Asia.
RusAl won approval to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange late last year, and following the French AMF approval, trading is expected to start on both exchanges Jan. 27.
The prospectus published on the AMF web site said: "The visa was granted after the AMF verified that the document was complete. … It does not imply that the AMF endorses the proposed transaction, nor that it has validated the accounting and financial information presented."
RusAl is incorporated in Jersey and has debts of $14.9 billion, of which $4.5 billion is owed to Vneshekonombank, $2.1 billion to other Russian and Kazakh lenders, $895 million to Onexim and $7.4 billion to international lenders.
The shares may not be offered to the public and will trade on the professional segment of the Paris market.
The prospectus is for the admission of up to 768 million global depository shares that each represent 20 ordinary shares with a par value of $0.01. Paris trading is in euros and the issue price will be 19.91 euros ($28.15) for a global depository share.
RusAl won approval to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange after securing a deal to refinance its $16.8 billion debt pile, now reduced to $14.9 billion.
Under an agreement with creditors, it cannot pay dividends unless certain debt targets have been met and part of its cash generation is earmarked for debt reduction.
The aluminum group is raising $2.2 billion from the Hong Kong offering.
BNP Paribas and Credit Suisse are the joint sponsors and global co-coordinators of the IPO.
RusAl is the first Russian firm to list in Paris since the early 1900s, when French investors lost out on Russian railway stocks and government bonds, ahead of the many IPO-free decades of Soviet rule.
• Vneshekonombank and Libya’s sovereign fund bought the most shares in United Company RusAl’s initial public offering in Hong Kong, Vedomosti reported Monday, citing unidentified people familiar with the sale.
VEB is paying about $663 million for 3.15 percent of RusAl, while Libyan Investment Authority is paying about $300 million for 1.43 percent, the newspaper reported.
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