Interview by Andrei Elinson, Deputy CEO to Bloomberg
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 01.02.2010 |
Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska may list "several" businesses this year after the initial public offering last month of aluminum producer United Co. Rusal Ltd., the deputy chief executive officer of his investment company said.
"We have several candidates for IPO in the group," Andrei Elinson, deputy CEO of Moscow-based Basic Element, said in a Jan. 30 interview. "You might" see some listings this year, he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Deripaska's Rusal, the largest aluminum producer, was the first Russian company to list in Hong Kong, raising HK$16.7 billion ($2.2 billion) from investors including Russian state development bank VEB and Asian billionaire Li Ka-shing. State- run OAO Russian Railways and aircraft-leasing company Ilyushin Finance Co. said they may follow Rusal to Hong Kong as Russian companies seek alternatives to a London listing.
Basic Element will decide on the location depending on investor interest, Elinson said, declining to comment on specific companies. "We don't have a checklist, like, every company goes to Hong Kong," he said.
SMR, Deripaska's copper and molybdenum miner, plans to sell shares in Hong Kong in May, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported Jan. 28.
The Chinese market is becoming "more and more important" for Deripaska's business empire and Basic Element is considering partnerships with Chinese insurance companies, automakers and pulp producers, Elinson said.
Deripaska's OAO GAZ, Russia's second-largest automaker, may start sales of the Gazelle light commercial vehicle in China, he said. Basic Element's Military Industrial Co. already supplies the Tiger armored military carrier to the Chinese army and police, he said.
Basic Element has no plans to sell out of insurer OAO Ingosstrakh, Elinson said. "We are looking for a partner who could contribute to the development of the business model of Ingosstrakh," he said. "Chinese companies, among others, could be such partners for business in Russia and China."
PPF Group NV, the Czech financial company that owns about 40 percent of Ingosstrakh, is eager "at a reasonable price" to buy control or sell its stake, PPF co-owner Jiri Smejc said in an interview published today in Izvestia daily.
Basic Element may cede some construction assets to banks to cut debt, Elinson said. Or it may co-manage with banks the construction assets held as collateral by the lenders, he said. Basic Element controls Glavstroy and Transstroy.
In 2008, Deripaska gave up stakes in builder Hochtief AG and autoparts maker Magna International Inc. that were held as collateral by lenders as the value of his investments tumbled. Last year he extended an option to buy back 25 percent of Strabag SE, Austria's biggest builder, until the end of 2010.
Most Basic Element units returned to positive earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization in the fourth quarter, Elinson said. "Our plan for this year is to bring all companies to net or at least operating profit," he said.
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