Norilsk Nickel, the word's largest palladium and nickel producer, has augmented its stake in the charter capital of WGC-3, previously controlled by the Unified Energy System of Russia (UES), to 46.2%, the press office said.
The additional share issue by WGC-3 was the first initial public offering (IPO) in the history of the Russian electricity sector in favor of a private strategic investor. The move was part of the UES reorganization scheme.
The WGC-3 board of directors earlier approved the placement of the company's newly issued shares at 4.54 rubles ($0.17) per share.
WGC-3 is expected to channel the IPO proceeds into investment projects to build new generating capacities, the power generator's press office earlier said.
Following the IPO, UES [RTS: EESR] has cut its stake in WGC-3 from 59.72% to 37.1%.
Norilsk Nickel is one of the largest producers of platinum and one of the top 10 producers of copper in the world, whose revenue reached $4.2 billion in the first half of 2006. The company is rated Baa2 by Moody's Investors Service and BBB- by Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.
