$1.5 Billion I.P.O. for Firm Controlled by Putin Ally Tied to Manafort
- 6 years ago
$1.5 Billion I.P.O. for Firm Controlled by Putin Ally Tied to Manafort
Mr. Manafort and Mr. Deripaska set up an investment company to buy television stations in Ukraine
that eventually unraveled in a $19 million lawsuit filed by Mr. Deripaska in the Cayman Islands, court records show.
The Russian energy and aluminum company EN+, which is controlled by a member of President Vladimir V. Putin’s circle of favored businessmen, said on Friday
that it had raised $1.5 billion in an initial public offering seen as a major test of investors’ appetite for Russian assets.
The offering may draw attention for using the London Stock Exchange, where listing rules are less stringent than in New York, for a transaction
that had the effect of funneling money to a Russian state bank that has faced sanctions in both the United States and the European Union, even though EN+ has not faced sanctions.
The company is controlled by the Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska, a confidant of the Russian president who once had close ties to Paul J. Manafort, the former Trump
campaign manager who was charged this week with money laundering as part of the special counsel inquiry into potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Mr. Deripaska was never charged with a crime in Russia over the Aluminum Wars,
but the United States has for years denied him a visa, suggesting something unseemly in his ascent in the Siberian aluminum industry.
Mr. Manafort and Mr. Deripaska set up an investment company to buy television stations in Ukraine
that eventually unraveled in a $19 million lawsuit filed by Mr. Deripaska in the Cayman Islands, court records show.
The Russian energy and aluminum company EN+, which is controlled by a member of President Vladimir V. Putin’s circle of favored businessmen, said on Friday
that it had raised $1.5 billion in an initial public offering seen as a major test of investors’ appetite for Russian assets.
The offering may draw attention for using the London Stock Exchange, where listing rules are less stringent than in New York, for a transaction
that had the effect of funneling money to a Russian state bank that has faced sanctions in both the United States and the European Union, even though EN+ has not faced sanctions.
The company is controlled by the Russian oligarch Oleg V. Deripaska, a confidant of the Russian president who once had close ties to Paul J. Manafort, the former Trump
campaign manager who was charged this week with money laundering as part of the special counsel inquiry into potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Mr. Deripaska was never charged with a crime in Russia over the Aluminum Wars,
but the United States has for years denied him a visa, suggesting something unseemly in his ascent in the Siberian aluminum industry.