Prokhorov's most notable transaction would probably be the sale of his 25% stake in Norilsk Nickel to Deripaska.
But he already had one big backer among its shareholders: Norilsk Nickel, a Russian firm with over 20%.
Norilsk Nickel, which supplies the car industry with palladium, platinum and rhodium, is looking to expand its operations.
Russia's Norilsk Nickel (otc: NILSY) is the world's biggest producer of nickel, which is what makes stainless steel shiny.
Large and powerful companies, including Sibneft, Norilsk Nickel and Alfa Bank, were represented.
Taxes from Norilsk Nickel's mines provide nearly 70% of the regional administration's income.
ECONOMIST: The contest for control of one of Russia's richest regions
The management of Norilsk Nickel stresses that its job is to act in the interest of all its shareholders.
In March 2007, Pravda reported his resignation as general director and president of OAO Norilsk Nickel, a subsidiary of Interros.
CNN: Prokhorov: Metals mogul hoping to shine in Kremlin race
Norilsk Nickel expects palladium to be in a deficit next year, Berlin said, speaking at a conference sponsored by ETF Securities.
FORBES: Palladium Hits 11-Week High On Renewed Concerns About Russian Supplies
Norilsk Nickel is the world's largest nickel and palladium miner.
Chris Weafer, chief strategist at Russian investment bank Uralsib, believes that Norilsk Nickel is one of the companies the state would love to add to "its list of national champions".
Yeltsin pledged some of the most lucrative state companies, such as Yukos, Lukoil, Sibneft, and Norilsk Nickel, as loan collateral with the understanding that the state would default.
FORBES: Berezovsky vs. Abramovich: Insecure Oligarchs Spell Bad Russian Economy
But Norilsk Nickel, with the world's largest reserves of the metal, treads in the shadow of rumors that the government is plotting to target it as it did Mikhail Khodorkovsky's oil company Yukos.
When it was announced in August that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would go to the northern Russian city of Norilsk, where Norilsk Nickel's largest operations are located, many experts were sure that the state was ready to intervene.
Only this week Mr Potanin's Uneximbank group was tying up the loose ends on one such deal by winning an auction for a 38% stake in a metals firm, Norilsk Nickel a stake that the bank had been managing on behalf of the government for the past 18 months.
应用推荐