Page 14 - bne_newspaper_June_29_2018

Eastern Europe
June 29, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 14
London court rules in favour of sanctioned Deripaska in Norilsk Nickel oligarch showdown
bne IntelliNews
The London High Court resolved the case involving billionaire Russian shareholders of Norilsk
Nickel metals major in favour of sanctioned
Oleg Deripaska (controls Rusal aluminium
major), ruling that Roman Abramovich (controls Crispian Investments) breached the shareholder agreement when selling a 2.1% stake in Norilsk Nickel to fellow oligarch Vladimir Potanin's Interros.
In March the sale of the stake flared up the old shareholder conflict in one of Russia's largest metal miners, with Deripaska's Rusal (32.9% in Norilsk Nickel) said it would initiate a "shootout" procedure with Potanin's Interros (holds 32.9% in Norilsk Nickel and heads the company) as means of solving sharp disagreements over the management of Norilsk Nickel‘s cash flow.
Both Deripaska and Rusal were named in the April 6 round of sanctions by the US Treasury, making the expensive billion-dollar shootout with Interros highly unlikely and forcing Deripaska
to withdraw his nomination for Norilsk Nickel's board. But now the company could have a chance to gain an upper hand in Norilsk Nickel capital cheaply as a damaged party in the ruling.
The breach of the shareholder agreement by Potanin and Abramovich could give Deripaska's Rusal, as the damaged party, the right to acquire a 7.5% stake in Norilsk Nickel with 25% discount and buy 1.875% of Norilsk Nickel shares for
$1 (current market price of RUB33bn or about $0.5bn), Vedomosti daily commented.
A London court ruled in favour of Deripaska in his conflict with Potanin over what to do with Norilsk Nickel’s free cash
Rusal, which welcomed the decision of the London court, did not yet comment on whether it will expand its stake in Norilsk Nickel. Nor did Interros yet comment whether it will appeal the ruling.
Analysts surveyed by Kommersant daily commented that now Crispian will have to return the $750mn raised from selling the 2.1% Norilsk Nickel state to Interros, and doubt that Abramovich's company will now be able to find other buyers for the shares with such a high premium.
Previously in London Deripaska argued that he was unaware of Crispian's plans to sell 4% out of its 6.2% stake in Norilsk Nickel to Interros, as it evoked "10 unpleasant years" of cooperation with Potanin and him "playing games" at the shareholder meetings this year, according to Vedomosti daily and the Financial Times.
The conflict between Potanin and Deripaska came out of a row over what to do with Norilsk Nickel’s free cash flow, with the former arguing in favour of higher investment and the latter of more dividend payments.
"We definitely see the world differently. Shareholders want more dividends. Managers want more capex...," Potanin was quoted by the Financial Times as saying and claiming that "the dividends he [Deripaska] expects are too high.”
In response Rusal commented that Norilsk