Russian business papers Kommersant and Vedomosti quoted on February 20 Andrei Klishas, chairman of Norilsk Nickel's board of directors, as saying he had received a letter from Dresdner Kleinwort with a proposal to consolidate the world's largest nickel producer with Metalloinvest, owned by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.
"We are ready for a merger as this would be quite an interesting move for us," Metalloinvest CEO Maxim Gubiyev said.
Tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov and his former business partner Vladimir Potanin are two key shareholders of the metals giant Norilsk Nickel. As of late 2007, they held 28.2% and 25.3% of Norilsk Nickel's shares, respectively. Both businessmen announced plans early in 2007 to divide the assets, but eventually failed to agree on the business's division.
In late 2007, Russia's newly created aluminum giant United Company RusAl, controlled by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, announced that it had reached an agreement with Onexim Group, owned by Prokhorov, on buying Prokhorov's blocking stake of 25% plus one share in Norilsk Nickel. The announcement came after Interros holding company refused to buy Prokhorov's blocking interest.
UC RusAl is currently raising a $4.5 bln syndicated loan to finance the deal.
Meanwhile, Nina Dementsova, an Interros spokeswoman, said that the holding did not rule out the option of consolidating with Metalloinvest.
"This option fits into our strategy for the company's aggregation, diversification and the growth of its profits," Dementsova said.
