On January 11, 2010, Russian aluminum producer Rusal announced its intention to list shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and global depositary shares on Euronext Paris valued at about $2.6 billion, with trading to begin on January 27. It was the first-ever primary offering by a non-Asian company on the Hong Kong exchange and the first-ever Hong Kong-Paris dual listing.
Three days later, on January 14, Reuters and Dow Jones reported that the Rusal offerings were fully subscribed. The mix of investors included “hedge funds, long-only funds, ultra-rich individuals, and commodity-related metals and mining funds, with orders coming from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, United Kingdom, Europe and the United States,” Reuters reported.
The Rusal offerings amounted to about 10% of the company’s value and were available only to institutional, not retail, investors. The Rusal announcement stated that the company intends to use all of the net proceeds of the offerings immediately to reduce outstanding debt and to satisfy other obligations to its creditors.
Rusal is the world’s largest aluminum producer, accounting for about 11% of world production, and holds a greater than 25% interest in Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium.
