Corus breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday as dissident shareholder Alisher Usmanov cashed in most of his shares in the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker, making more than £150m (€217m) in the process.

Mr Usmanov, a Russian metals magnate who had built up a stake of 13.4 per cent in Corus and had pressed for changes in company strategy, signalled an exit through a deal to forward-sell 400m of his shares through a complex derivatives contract.