PRESS: Russia’s Kerimov’s co can buy 17% in RUSAL from Onexim

MOSCOW, Jul 19 (PRIME) -- Companies belonging to son of Russian businessman Suleiman Kerimov, Said Kerimov, can buy a 17.02% stake in aluminum producer UC RUSAL from Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group, business daily Vedomosti reported on Tuesday, citing four people close to the sides of negotiations.

Two of the sources said that Onexim is proactively seeking for an investor in the asset and has offered it to many potential buyers, including the current stakeholders, Sual Partners, owning 15.6%, and Glencore, with a 8.75% interest. But the sources said that these companies are not ready to spend much.

In early July, Vedomosti reported citing sources that Onexim Group has decided to sell all its Russian assets after searches held by tax authorities in April that were connected with a criminal case against the former shareholders of Bank Tavrichesky. But the group’s CEO Dmitry Razumov denied this information, according to Bloomberg.

Onexim Group later sold a stake in fertilizer producer Uralkali, is preparing to sell an interest in International Financial Club Bank (IFC Bank), and still owns stakes in insurance company Soglasie, banks Renaissance Capital, Renaissance Credit, power producer Quadra, developer OPIN, and RBC.

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