RUSAL greenshoe not exercised as shares languish

* Greenshoe option expired Feb. 26

* RUSAL shares closed at HK$7.85, 27.3 pct below IPO price

MOSCOW, March 1 (Reuters) - The world's biggest aluminium firm RUSAL  said it will not issue more shares, as underwriters of its initial public offering -- which saw shares fall a quarter below the listing price -- have not opted to buy more equity.

"The over-allotment option has not been exercised by the joint global coordinators on behalf of the underwriters during the stabilisation period and it lapsed on Feb. 26," RUSAL said on Monday.

RUSAL  floated around 10 percent of its stock amid great fanfare in late January -- raising $2.2 billion to pay down debt while becoming the first ever non-Asian firm to list in Hong Kong.  

However, the shares have fallen sharply since the IPO as investor interest in the heavily-indebted producer waned.

Questions have also surfaced about RUSAL's operations in Guinea, with the West African government threatening to overturn the 2006 sale of the Friguia alumina refinery.

Guinean Mines Minister Mahmoud Thiam told Reuters on Monday that the government is prepared to hold talks with the Russian miner.  

RUSAL sold 1.61 billion new shares at HK$10.80 ($1.39) each. The shares closed at HK$7.85 on Monday, down 27.3 percent from the initial offering price.

RUSAL had said it may issue 225 million extra shares for the option, also known as "greenshoe option" after a company which first used such a scheme, so that the total stake to be floated could be increased to just under 12 percent.

The deadline for the exercise of the option was set for Feb. 26, the 30th day from the listing date.

(Reporting by Aleksandras Budrys; Editing by Louise Heavens)