Just three investors have bought almost half the shares being sold by Russian energy firm Rosneft in a $10.4bn (€8.2bn) initial public offering due to start trading today. However, the deal could still be suspended if an appeal by investors in one of Rosneft's main assets succeeds.

The strategic investors are oil companies BP, China National Petroleum Corp and Malaysia's Petronas, which bought about $5.2bn of Rosneft shares through the initial public offering.