United Company Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer, is considering shifting its $9bn plus initial public offering from the London Stock Exchange to Hong Kong amid souring relations between the UK and Russia and proposed tougher listing rules in Britain.
There was a “95 per cent chance” the company would now list in Hong Kong and not in London, said a senior executive at Basic Element, the holding company of businessman Oleg Deripaska which owns a 66 per cent stake in Rusal.
The executive said that investors in Hong Kong were “more hungry” for Russian shares than those in London. He added tougher listing regulations on the LSE would be another reason why Rusal could take its business east.