The newspaper, which is owned by Usmanov, quoted unidentified banking sources as saying the move may help one of Norilsk's top shareholders, Vladimir Potanin, to avoid a hostile takeover by aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's iron and steel firm has bought between 3 and 4 percent of the shares in metals giant Norilsk Nickel <GMKN.MM> in an early merger move, Kommersant business daily reported on Monday.
The newspaper, which is owned by Usmanov, quoted unidentified banking sources as saying the move may help one of Norilsk's top shareholders, Vladimir Potanin, to avoid a hostile takeover by aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska.
Norilsk and Usmanov's Metalloinvest were not immediately available for comment.
Metalloinvest has expressed interest in a proposal to create a Russian mining giant by merging with Norilsk and said its own assets were worth $30 billion.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Metalloinvest manages the assets of holding group Gazmetall, which include Russia's two largest iron ore mines and two steel mills that rank the company fifth in terms of output.
Norilsk, which mines a fifth of the world's nickel, has a stock market value of $55 billion. Its ownership is muddied by a protracted asset split between its two co-owners and former business partners, Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov.
Prokhorov has agreed to sell 25 percent plus one share to United Company RUSAL, the aluminum company majority-owned by Deripaska. UC RUSAL has stated its intention eventually to effect a full merger between the two companies.
(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; editing by Jan Dahinten)
