En+, the holding company of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, on Monday indicated a valuation of up to $8.5 billion (7.2 billion euros) as it announced a price range for its initial public offering in London.

En+ Group plc, a leading power and aluminium producer, said this month it was planning to list on the London Stock Exchange in a first for a Russian group since the West imposed economic sanctions on the county over the Ukraine crisis.

The price range for shares will be between $14 and $17, which "implies a pre-money equity value of between $7.0 billion and $8.5 billion," the group said in a statement published on the London Stock Exchange website.

CEO Maxim Sokov said the group had been "delighted with the level of interest" since the announcement of the intention to seek a stock listing.

En+ said it would float in London in November before being listed in Moscow.

En+ owns the power supplier En+ Power and also holds a 48 percent stake in aluminium giant RUSAL, which has been listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange since 2010.

One of Russia's wealthiest businessmen, Deripaska, 49, amassed huge wealth following the fall of the USSR.

His personal fortune is estimated at $6 billion by Forbes magazine.

Russian companies have struggled to raise capital since the United States and EU imposed biting sanctions over Moscow's meddling in Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have been fighting with Kiev forces since 2014.

En+ has not been directly targeted by the sanctions.

Source: AFP