Rusal float to net Deripaska $70m bonus
RUSAL, the aluminium group which earlier this year became the first Russian company to list in Hong Kong, has awarded chief executive Oleg Deripaska a weighty $70.3m (£45.4m) bonus for getting the float away successfully.
The company said yesterday that oligarch Deripaska has been awarded 50.625m bonus shares at the offer price of HK$10.80 per share – equivalent to around $70.3m – for “services provided in preparation of the global offering”.
A further bonus pool of $13.95m has been distributed among other members of the firm’s senior management, 60 per cent of which came in the form of shares.
The equity payouts are subject to a two-year lock-up period, though Deripaska can transfer a third of his share bonus to a third party, providing the recipient also agrees to hold on to the shares for two years.
Rusal’s initial public offering (IPO) in January was far from an easy affair. After two initial attempts to float in London and Hong Kong failed, the group eventually pushed ahead with a dual listing of shares in Hong Kong and global depositary receipts in Paris. But the IPO was delayed by enquiries by the Hong Kong regulator over Rusal’s ability to pay down its $14.9bn of debts, which subsequently had to be restructured for the float to get the green light.
The firm originally hoped to raise up to $2.6bn via the share offering, though that fell to $2.2bn in practice as the concerns niggled at investors.
Rusal’s stock closed the day in Hong Kong yesterday at HK$9.50 (79p), 12 per cent below the offer price of HK$10.80.
The IPO bonus payouts were approved by Rusal’s remuneration committee, chaired by non-executive director Philip Lader. Lader is currently chairman of advertising group WPP and a senior adviser to Morgan Stanley, and has formerly held positions as US ambassador to the UK and White House deputy chief of staff.