Analysts told Interfax that the terms of the latest offer that MMC Norilsk Nickel made to buy its shares from aluminum giant UC Rusal are unlikely to be improved on in the near future, but Rusal's decision is still hard to gauge, despite a tangible premium over the market and previous offers.

Norilsk Nickel said on February 10th 2011 that it was offering to buy 20% of its shares from aluminum giant UC Rusal for USD 12.8 billion. It previously offered to buy Rusal's entire 25% for USD 12 billion. The new offer is a 33% improvement on the last and is based on a market cap of USD 64 billion instead of USD 48 billion. It is open until 6:00 PM Moscow time on March 4th 2011.

Mr Alexander Pukhayev analyst at VTB Capital said that "The premium is more than adequate. The price is clearly more or less close to the one Rusal is dreaming of and they will likely feel the pressure from their own shareholders who want to sell the shares and solve the debt problem."

Mr Pukhayev said that he was even a little apprehensive about Norilsk's desire to get its shares back from Rusal at any price, it is not clear why buying Rusal out at the new price would benefit all other shareholders.

Mr Dmitry Smolin of Uralsib said that the 40% premium over the market for 20% of the shares could result in Norilsk Nickel overpaying around USD 3 billion for the Rusal stake.

Mr Sergei Krivokhizhin of Alfa Bank said that "It looks like Norilsk will over pay if Rusal agrees. Norilsk is in effect offering USD 16 billion for the whole Rusal stake. There's a personal opportunity for Mr Oleg Deripaska too: if he were to sell for USD 16 billion now he'd be getting more than he paid."

Mr Andrei Lobazov of Metropol said that "It's a huge premium. You have to bear in mind how uncompromising Rusal has been, how often it has called the previous offers inadequate, although they also carried premiums, and has said the investment in Norilsk Nickel is a strategic one. But this offer price could interest Deripaska. It's similar to what he paid for the stake."

Mr Mikhail Stiskin of Troika Dialog said that "From a financial point of view this is a totally adequate figure, but it is hard to say whether it is a final one. There could be further iterations, with an upward tilt."

Mr Krivokhizhin said that Norilsk Nickel was running out of opportunities to raise the price and that it could be a long time before the offer is improved again. He added that "Patience has its limits. One of the reasons that Norilsk is proposing to buy 20% and not 25% is that USD 13 billion is, of course, a lot of money. The money has to be raised, borrowed from banks. Also, the company is in the process of a buyback. If Rusal does not accept this one, then we shouldn't expect a new offer in the immediate future."

Mr Lobazov said that "I don't think we'll see any new offers at a higher price. Norilsk will probably continue its buyback."

Mr Smolin said that the shareholder conflict would turn out to be positive for investors if the 20% are repurchased and then canceled, and do not appear on the market. The deal will also be structured in such a way as to prevent the 5% that Rusal will be left with from finding its way onto the market. He added that "There's a strong likelihood that Rusal will agree."

(Sourced from Interfax)