Oleg Deripaska, one of Russia's richest men who is set to earn billions later this year from the flotation of his alumimium business in London, has bought a 5% stake in General Motors to add to his holdings in the North American automotive industry.

Deripaska, who is a one of the owners of Rusal, Russia's largest aluminium producer, which is expected to complete a $7.5bn (€5.5bn) London listing later this year, bought a GM stake worth about $909m (€658bn) late last year through a series of open market share purchases, according to Russian business daily Vedomosti.