big sell snatched up in 2 hours

Russia's Usmanov Sells A$416 Million Mt. Gibson Stake (Update1)

By Jesse Riseborough

April 4 (Bloomberg) -- Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov sold his stake in Australian iron ore producer Mt. Gibson Iron Ltd. for A$416 million ($380 million), at a price almost three times more than the cost of his initial investment.

Merrill Lynch & Co. yesterday completed the sale of Usmanov's 156.8 million shares, or a 19.5 percent holding, to new and existing institutional investors at A$2.65 each, Perth-based Mt. Gibson said today in a statement. It was a 9.6 percent discount to the stock's last traded price before a trading halt yesterday.

Mt. Gibson is the second-best performing stock on Australia's benchmark index in the past year because of surging prices for the material driven by demand from steelmakers in China. The Takeovers Panel this week blocked Usmanov's planned sale of the stake to a unit of Shougang Corp., China's ninth-largest steel mill.

Mt. Gibson fell as much as 21 cents, or 7.2 percent, to A$2.72 and traded at A$2.76 at 10:29 a.m. Sydney time on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Usmanov paid 90 cents each for the purchase of his initial stake of 110 million shares in November 2006. Forbes ranks Usmanov as Russia's 19th-richest person, and the world's 91st wealthiest, with a fortune of $9.3 billion, up from $5.5 billion in 2007.

He is also the owner of Moscow-based Metalloinvest, Russia's biggest supplier of iron ore. His Mt. Gibson stake was held through Usmanov's Gazmetall Holding (Cyprus) Ltd. vehicle.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jesse Riseborough in Melbourne at [email protected]

Last Updated: April 3, 2008 19:49 EDT