Norilsk Fails to Reach Agreement With Deripaska to Buy Rusal's 25% Stake

(Bloomberg)--OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel dropped plans to buy a 25 percent stake in the company from Oleg Deripaska’s United Co. Rusal, the same day that Interfax reported it rejected an offer for its power unit from the billionaire.

Norilsk failed to reach an accord with Rusal to buy the aluminum maker’s 25 percent stake, the Moscow-based maker of nickel, copper and palladium said yesterday in an e-mail.

The company’s board also rejected a $2.1 billion cash offer from Deripaska’s OAO EuroSibEnergo for its 79 percent stake in power unit OAO OGK-3, deciding instead to swap it for shares in state-run utility OAO Inter RAO UES, Interfax reported, citing an unidentified Norilsk director and an unnamed Rusal official.

Deripaska’s battle for control of Norilsk against rival shareholder Vladimir Potanin is set to extend into 2011, marking at least four years of ownership conflicts at the world’s biggest nickel miner. Norilsk management said Dec. 27 that it is ready to offer a buyback to all shareholders should Rusal rejects its bid of at least $12 billion for its stake in Norilsk.