MOSCOW, April 9 - RAPSI. The Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has requested the court to reverse the interim relief granted in a minority shareholder's lawsuit to annul the acquisition of the Australian Flinders Mines Ltd., the PRIME agency reports on Monday.

The Siberian steel corporation sought to purchase Flinders Mines for $537 million in November. The transaction was endorsed by nearly all of the regulatory authorities.

Flinders Mines' shareholders approved the purchase in late March. The proposed transaction structure was submitted for consideration to the Federal Court of Australia.

However, the transaction was opposed by an MMK minority shareholder who claimed the deal would infringe on his interests, could involve financial and operation risks and would affect the return on his investments.

The Chelyabinsk Regional Commercial Court prohibited MMK from acquiring a 100-percent interest in Flinders Mines as an interim relief.
The preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 25.

Last week, MMK decided to suspend the closing of its deal with Gazprombank to obtain about $600 million in financing for the Flinders Mines purchase.

MMK ranks among the world's largest steel producers and is Russias steel sector leader. In 2010, it produced 11.4 million tonnes of crude steel and 10.4 million tonnes of commercial steel products.