| Bloomberg  United Co. Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, applied to sell shares on Hong Kong’s exchange as the city widens efforts to draw foreign listings.
Moscow-based Rusal would be the only Russian company with shares trading in Hong Kong, based on data from the exchange’s 2008 annual report. Rusal will offer investors a 10 percent stake, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday.
Billionaire Oleg Deripaska, Rusal’s controlling shareholder, is selling stock to help pay back more than $14 billion owed to creditors. Companies raised HK$101 billion ($13 billion) this year in Hong Kong IPOs, 60 percent more than the whole of last year, as the financial crisis abates and investors seek to benefit from China’s stimulus spending.
“It shows that companies view the liquidity in Hong Kong as very attractive,” said Andrew Sullivan, a sales trader at Mainfirst Securities Hong Kong Ltd.
Shares of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. rose 1.5 percent to close at HK$136.80, taking the year’s gains to 86 percent. The benchmark Hang Seng index is up 45 percent.
“The Stock Exchange doesn’t make announcements on behalf of companies regarding their listing plans and schedules,” Scott Sapp, a spokesman, said in an e-mail.
Hong Kong ranked as No. 2 globally for funds raised through initial public offerings in the first half of this year, after Brazil, according to data released by the city’s bourse.
Aluminum Companies
The Hong Kong exchange, Asia’s third-largest, has attracted 34 listings this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, including the $1.3 billion share sale of Liaoyang-based China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd. in April. Zhongwang is the country’s largest producer of extruded aluminum products.
Rusal may “see that Hong Kong investors are willing or may understand investing in aluminum companies” following Zhongwang’s listing, Mainfirst’s Sullivan said.
Aluminum futures in London have risen 18 percent this year as investors bet that China’s $586 billion stimulus spending will spur demand from builders and carmakers. Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. producer of the metal, said Chinese demand will rise 4 percent this year, compared with a previous prediction of no growth.
Charles Li, who will join the exchange this month and take over as chief executive officer in January, said he aims to attract more overseas companies to list, the South China Morning Post reported after his appointment in June.
The Hong Kong exchange made more than 30 trips to markets including Russia, Mongolia and Australia last year and is also targeting resources companies, it said in its 2008 annual report.
All Comers
“If Hong Kong is going to be an international marketplace it should welcome all comers as long as they are signing up to standards of corporate governance,” said David Webb, a shareholder activist and former stock exchange director. “We don’t want to be diminishing the brand.”
Hong Kong still needs to improve corporate governance regulations to differentiate itself from other markets, he said.
Credit Suisse Group AG and BNP Paribas SA were involved in Rusal’s plans, said the two people, who declined to be identified because the details haven’t been made public.
A spokeswoman for Rusal in Moscow, who asked not to be identified in line with company policy, declined to comment yesterday. Amy Cayzer, a spokeswoman at Credit Suisse in London, didn’t immediately return a phone call and e-mail seeking comment. Shani Halstead, a spokeswoman for BNP in London, declined to comment.
Deripaska, 41, was forced to cede stakes in Hochtief AG, Germany’s biggest construction firm, and Canadian car-parts maker Magna International Inc. in October 2008 after shares used as collateral to finance the acquisitions lost their value.
To contact the reporters on this story: Tom Kohn at tkohn@bloomberg.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Hanny Wan in Hong Kong at hwan3@bloomberg.net This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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