Rusal reverses earlier decision to liquidate UC Rusal Investment Management
MOSCOW. April 10 (Interfax) - Rusal has reversed an earlier decision to disband UC Rusal Investment Management LLC, which owns 25% of Norilsk Nickel , the limited liability company said in materials.
Previously a source familiar with the situation said that Rusal was in talks with Western banks on refinancing a multi-billion dollar loan from Sberbank of Russia .
In order to provide a more acceptable form of security for the banks, Rusal planned to transfer the group's Norilsk Nickel holding, which is currently pledged to Sberbank, from Russia to Cyprus.
The plan involved transferring the stake to Cyprus-registered Gershvin Investments Corp Limited and liquidating UC Rusal Investment Management.
Rusal raised a loan of $4.59 billion from Sberbank in 2010 secured with the Norilsk Nickel stake. Initially Sberbank extended the loan period to December 7, 2013 and later to 2016.
Rusal net debt amounted to $10.829 billion at the end of 2012, down from $11.049 billion a year earlier. Rusal faced $500 million in loan payments this year, it was reported previously.
Oleg Deripaska controls 48.13% of Rusal via En+. Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim Group has 17%, Viktor Vekselberg's Sual Partners has 15.8% and international trade company Glencore has 8.75%. The free float is about 10%.