(Bloomberg) -- Lawyers for Russian billionaires involved in a dispute around Roman Abramovich's plan to sell a stake in the nation's biggest mining company have tentatively agreed to delay the deal.
The businessmen would hold back the sale of MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC until five business days after a March 8 hearing into the planned transaction, said Daniel Toledano, a lawyer for Vladimir Potanin, one of the billionaires seeking to buy the shares.
The agreement followed comments by London High Court judge Simon Picken in a hearing on Tuesday that he saw no need for an urgent ruling on the sale of the stake in Nornickel, as the mining company is known. The deal is opposed by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, also a major shareholder in the business.
The court dispute marks the fraying of a 2012 peace accord between Deripaska and Potanin that ended years of feuding over their large holdings in Nornickel. The truce has held thanks to the stake, currently 6.37 percent, owned by Abramovich. That helped to keep control of the nickel producer in balance, but now his plan to reduce the holding has seen tensions reemerge.
Problems started earlier when Potanin proposed to buy 4 percent of Nornickel for $1.5 billion, more than 20 percent over the average market price for 90 days. Abramovich countered with an offer to sell at the same price to both Potanin and Deripaska.
While both billionaires accepted the offer as they sought to maintain their influence over the company, Deripaska also filed an injunction to block the sale, arguing that it would hurt the balance between shareholders.
During Tuesday's hearing Judge Picken asked the parties to reach an agreement on a way to allow the deal to go ahead, while also ensuring it can be reversed. United Co. Rusal, owned by Deripaska, agreed to cover costs from the delay on Tuesday, Toledano said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Franz Wild in London at fwild@bloomberg.net, Yuliya Fedorinova in Moscow at yfedorinova@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Tony Barrett
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