A group of Russian oligarchs are priming their companies for multi-billion dollar London listings in a sign the City remains the favoured financial centre for the country's tycoons as they try to rebuild fortunes devastated by the crisis.
Sergey Popov and Andrey Melnichenko, the owners of Russia's biggest coal producer Suek, will appoint banking advisers this week for a stock market listing in London and Moscow that could value the business at up to $9bn, according to people close to the company.
ProfMedia, one of Russia's largest media groups controlled by the magnate Vladimir Potanin, has also mandated Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse for a London listing that could achieve a market value of up to $2bn. Both listings are expected to launch in the second half of the year.