Norilsk Nickel increases UC Rusal stake buyout offer: company

MOSCOW -- Russian miner Norilsk Nickel said on Monday it could up its offer to buy out aluminum giant UC Rusal's stake in the company to put an end to squabbling over control of the world's largest palladium and nickel producer. “Norilsk Nickel management is ready to discuss a possibility of increasing the price of the offer,” the company said in a statement without giving a precise figure. Earlier this month Norilsk Nickel said it is ready to buy out Rusals' 25-percent stake in the company for US$12 billion.

Norilsk Nickel has been at the centre of a shareholder feud between billionaire Oleg Deripaska's UC Rusal and billionaire Vladimir Potanin's Interros, which has also 25 percent. Deripaska and Potanin both want to control the nickel producer.