En+ Group — BrandWiki

En+ Group

Overview

En+ Group plc

type	Public limited company
traded as	lse: ENPL mcx: ENPG
foundation	2002 (Moscow)
location	Moscow, Russia (Head office) Kaliningrad, Russia (Registered office)
locations	3
key people	Vladimir Kolmogorov (CEO)
industry	energy and metals
revenue	$10.36 billion (2020)
net income	$1.86 billion (2020)
num employees	Approximately 90,000 (2022)
homepage	https://www.enplusgroup.com/en/

En+ Group plc is a green energy and metals company. It has a controlling stake in Rusal, one of the world's largest aluminum producers outside of China.[1] EN+ was founded by Oleg Deripaska [2]

By using hydroelectricity to power its smelters, EN+ Group’s manufacturing process generates 80% less emissions than coal-burning manufacturers in China.[1] The company has set ambitious goals for achieving net-zero emissions[3] in the production of “green aluminum."[4] The company is the world's largest independent hydropower generator.

EN+ is led by Vladimir Kolmogorov.[5]

History

2002: En+ Group established.

2003: RUSAL Holding Limited established following a corporate restructuring and consolidation of aluminium and alumina assets. These assets would later form the group of companies that now compose UC RUSAL. The consolidation of RUSAL Holding Limited was completed in 2004, 100% of its shares were transferred to En+ Group.[7]

2001 – 2007: The Group acquired 50.2% of the shares of Irkutskenergo, a power company that owns the Irkutsk, Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk HPPs and several CHPs in the Irkutsk region of Russia, with an aggregate generation capacity of 12.8 GW. In 2016 the Group increased its shareholding to 90.8%.[8]

2005: purchase of Aluminium Plant Podgorica by subsidiary Salomon Enterprises Limited, which was later renamed Central European Aluminum Company (CEAC)[9]

2007: Following the acquisitions of SUAL Group by En+ Group, which at the time was one of the ten largest aluminium producers globally, and select aluminium and alumina businesses from Glencore, the current RUSAL was formed under UC RUSAL.[10] 2008: UC RUSAL completes the acquisition of a 25% + 1 shares stake in Norilsk Nickel, the world's second largest producer of Nickel and one of the world's leading producers of platinum and copper.[11]

2010: UC UC RUSAL conducts initial public offering of shares and depositary receipts in Hong Kong.[12]

2011: En+ establishes En+ logistics, to provide logistics services predominantly to its Energy Segment.[13]

2013: As relationship between the CEAC and the Government of Montenegro became increasingly sour, there was an ongoing debate within the country about the fate of the aluminum producer. The size of the company, number of employees, and its impact on the Montenegrin trade balance imply that efforts will be made by the Government to keep the company alive, although sustainable ownership and management arrangements are yet to be made given the recriminations. On 8 July 2013, the CEAC officially went bankrupt, having up to that point accumulated a debt of 383 million euros, while the company itself is worth 180 million euros.[14]

2014: Boguchansk HPP initiated operations (as part of the BEMO 50/50 joint venture between UC RUSAL and RusHydro).[15]

2016: The first half of the first stage of the Boguchansk aluminium smelter (as part of the BEMO 50/50 joint venture between UC RUSAL and RusHydro) began operations with a production capacity of 149 thousand tonnes.[16]

2017: En+ successfully lists on the London Stock Exchange, raising $1.5 billion from international investors, valuing the company at $8 billion. The IPO was largest Russian IPO globally since 2012 and the first IPO by a Russian company in London since 2014.[17]

2021: En+ Group’s Metals segment RUSAL announced its proposal to demerge its high carbon assets and to change its name to AL+.[18] Mubadala, a state-owned investment company in Abu Dhabi, purchased a 2.6% stake in En+ Group from Polina Yumasheva, the former wife of Oleg Deripaska.[19]

US sanctions on En+ Group

In April 2018, the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included En+ Group among a list of 38 Russian entities being sanctioned in response to Russian interference in U.S. elections, violence in Ukraine, cybercrimes, and supplying Syria with weapons.[20] Both EN+ Group and RUSAL were included on the list for being owned or controlled by Oleg Deripaska, who was also among the sanctioned entities.

As a result of the sanctions, the U.S. government froze all US assets of EN+ Group and prohibited U.S. persons from doing business with the company.[20]

In response, the chairman of the board of directors of EN+ Group, Rt Hon The Lord Barker of Battle presented a plan[21] aimed at the de-listing of the company from the sanctions’ list by reducing Deripaska’s shareholding interest and creating an independent board of directors.[22] On April 27, the company completed a regulatory filing with the London Stock Exchange stating the Deripaska had agreed to leave the board and reduce his ownership interest to less than 50%.[23]

On May 1, 2018 the US Department of the Treasury loosened the sanctions to allow transactions necessary to divest or transfer debt, equity or other holdings in EN+ Group and United Company RUSAL PLC.[24] The following month, four board members, Gulzhan Moldazhanova, Igor Makarov, Olga Mashkovskaya and Anton Vishnevskiy, resigned as part of the Barker restructuring plan.[25]

On July 21, 2018 US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview that the objective was not to put the company out of business, but to limit Oleg Deripaska.[26]

The US Treasury notified Congress about its intention to lift sanctions against En+ Group in December of 2018 following the corporate restructuring.[27] In the announcement lifting the sanctions, Mnuchin said “These companies have committed to significantly diminish Deripaska’s ownership and sever his control,” and noted that the companies would be subject to ongoing compliance and regulation.”[21]

Under the arrangement to lift U.S. sanctions, new independent directors would be appointed to the boards EN+ and Rusal and the companies agreed to not act in any manner that “directly or indirectly provides Deripaska with the ability to exercise a controlling influence over management or policies” of EN+ or Rusal.” Deripaska’s voting interests were reduced to 35%.[28] When Barker announced the agreement in January of 2019, he acknowledged it wasn’t perfect. “I am not pretending that Deripaska is removed from the company altogether, but we have removed control."[21]

After sanctions were lifted for En+ Group, Deripaska remained on the OFAC list. All of Deripaska’s property and interests in property, including entities in which he holds a fifty percent or greater interest, remained blocked and he was prevented from obtaining cash either in return for his shares or from future dividends issued by En+ or Rusal.[29]