By Andrei Skvarsky

Ruben Vardanian, founder and chief executive of Troika Dialog, is considering selling out of the Moscow-based firm with chances that the oldest brokerage in Russia will slip under Russian state control, according to RBC Daily.

Sberbank and VTB, two state-controlled heavyweights in Russia’s  banking sector, are among potential buyers of Vardanian’s 39.22% stake. Others are top Troika executives and South Africa’s Standard Bank, which already owns one-third of the Moscow bank, the daily said, citing unidentified sources.

VTB denied any plans to buy Vardanian’s shares.

Sberbank deputy chairperson Bella Zlatkis claimed to know nothing of her bank seeking control of Troika. Yet there have been rumours practically since the outbreak of the world financial crisis that Troika may come under the dominion of Sberbank, whose priority targets include boosting investment banking, a business where Troika is one of the leaders.

In 2008, Sberbank lent $254 million to the Moscow School of Management in Skolkovo, of which Vardanian is president and one of the founders.

Vardanian has a string of top jobs with various companies, including the chairmanship of the board of directors of Russia’s Sukhoi Civil Aircraft and senior positions in his native Armenia.

Troika insiders say the the brokerage’s entrepreneurial culture has been gradually eroded since South Africa’s Standard Bank took a third stake in August 2008. A number of key bankers have parted company while Troika has lost market share in debt capital markes to VTB Capital.

By Ivan Anderzhanov.

Only one tenth of the total of the 79 IPOs scheduled this year for Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan have been carried out, according to public relations firm PBN Company.

The seven IPOs in H1 2010 were valued at more than $3 billion, with RUSAL’s $2.24 billion Hong Kong float representing almost three-quarters of total capital raised. Other completed transactions so far this year include: Agro-Generation ($14.4 million), Russian Sea ($90 million), Protek ($400 million), Avangard ($200 million), Kuzbass Fuel Company ($163 million) and DIOD ($9.2 million).

Investment banks in Moscow have predicted $10bn to $20bn in fresh issuance this year but there will have to be an avalanche in the Autumn to get anywhere near those levels.

“There’s a whole lot of smoke but very little fire when it comes to IPOs from this part of the world,” said Peter Necarsulmer, Chairman and CEO of PBN, in a statement.

Most companies, 46 in total, have yet to decide where they will list their shares. Of those that have declared intentions to issue shares, London, Moscow and Hong Kong remain the most preferred destinations. Neighboring Poland is an attractive financial market for Ukrainian companies, with seven saying they will list their shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

By Marcus Williams

Hexam Capital Partners, the $1b emerging markets boutique, is going it alone four years after being set up as a joint venture with Ignis Asset Management.

The 50/50 joint venture was launched in 2006 after Ignis poached six  members of Barings’ emerging markets team. Ignis controlled half of the business while the remainder was split between Hexam’s fund managers Bryan Collings, Stuart Richards, Marina Akopian and Grant Shotter.

Financial News reported there was tension between Ignis, which distributes and markets Hexam’s funds, and the managers at Hexam, who would prefer to limit inflows and grow the business at a slower pace. After the transfer of assets, Ignis will relinquish its duty to cover all the operation and back-office costs of the JV.

By Marcus Williams

Storm Real Estate, a Norwegian fund which invests in Russian real estate, listed 23.5 million shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange in an IPO yesterday.

Morten Astrup, chief executive of managing company Storm Capital Management,  said the firm is hoping to attract Russian investors.

Storm Real Estate owns the business centers Gas Field in Moscow and Grifon in St. Petersburg. Its market capitalization is about $50m.

By Ivan Anderzhanov

Russia’s second largest lender VTB is attempting to acquire TransCreditBank in a bid to expand its share of corporate and retails clients.

TransCreditBank, a subsidiary of the Russian Railways monopoly, has about $10bn in assets, which is about 9% of VTB’s assets.  The bank serves corporate and retail clients through 300 branches in Russian regions.

Andrei Kostin, VTB’s chief executive, said last week the bank is not interested in purchasing non-controlling stakes in small Russian banks.

TransCreditBank recently launched a full service investment bank to work in equity, debt, derivatives, corporate finance and m&a, as reported by EmergingMarkets.me.

The new group called TKB Capital would be hovered up by VTB’s own fast-expanding investment bank VTB Capital. Perhaps a merged entity will be dubbed VTB TBK Capital. Kind of rolls of the tongue after a drop of Stoli.

By Ivan Anderzhanov

US banking giant Morgan Stanley has offloaded its mortgage unit in Russia more than two years after first putting it on the block.

The bank had been looking to dispose of its City Mortgage Bank since 2008 after the global credit crunch wreaked havoc on the countrys’ property sector and killed the market for new house loans.

Top ten lender Orient Express bank, which is partly owned by banking tycoon Igor Kim, has bought a 100 percent stake the lender for an undisclosed fee.

City Mortgage bank with current equity capital of 2 billion roubles ($63.94 million) and offices in 23 regions was bought by the U.S. heavyweight in 2006 in order to enter the Russian market that at that time enjoyed a double-digit growth.

Morgan Stanley first arrived in Moscow back in 1994 when it started building a M&A and capital markets business. The bank diversified into mortgages with the acquisition in 2006 of City Mortgage Bank as part of an expansion into residential mortgage markets in the UK and Italy.

David Spector, head of Morgan Stanley’s European residential mortgage business said at the time: “Russian economic fundamentals are strong and a robust and growing mortgage market is supported by recent securitisation and creditor-friendly legislation.”

By Andrei Skvarsky

MICEX this week launched a process expected to resuscitate a plan to set up a central national depository that has been in limbo for several years.

The annual shareholders’ meeting of one of Eastern Europe’s biggest stock exchanges voted for merging the MICEX Clearing Chamber with the National Depository Centre, a company controlled by the exchange, Russian business newspaper RBC Daily said. The new company will bear the name National Clearing Depository.

The move comes less than a month after Konstantin Korishchenko was replaced as MICEX president by Ruben Aganbegyan, a former president of Moscow-based investment bank Renaissance Capital and son of Abel Aganbegyan, who was one of Mikhail Gorbachev’s chief economic advisers and a key figure in perestroika.

The plan to set up a central depository has the support of the financial markets regulator, the Federal Financial Markets Service (FSFR). A while ago the latter suggested a depository deal between RTS and MICEX but neither side appeared to be inspired with the idea.

By Andrei Skvarsky

BNP Paribas, France’s largest bank, has muscled into Russia asset management by slapping its brand on a joint venture with Russia’s TransCreditBank.

The two financial institutions take over the legacy of KIT Fortis Investments business which was formed in Russia three years ago by KIT and Fortis who both respectively blew up in their domestic markets in Russia and Belgium. The JV is being renamed to the catchy and pithy TKB BNP Paribas Investment Partners.

BNP has a retail, investment and corporate banking presence in Russia. It looked at buying Trust bank in the wake of the crisis before the deal collapsed on price.

The joint venture  has about 2 billion euro in Russian and foreign equities, fixed income and real estate assets. It manages Russian equity and BRIC funds registered by BNP Paribas and Alfred Berg in Luxembourg and the Nordic region, as well as 24 multi-asset class funds within Russia for domestic clients.

In a bid to boost its retails funds, TKB BNP  said yesterday at a press conference it plans a deal on mutual fund distribution with TransCreditBank,  the Russian Railways lender whic has a network  of 300 offices in 180 cities and towns.

TKB BNP also said it has stepped up cooperation with Russian corporate pension funds.

TKB BNP general director Vladimir Kirillov told EmergingMarkets.me the venture, which has more than doubled its total volume of assets under management since 2007, expects to become one of Russia’s top three asset management companies within three years.

By Marcus Williams

Charlemagne Capital, the emerging markets boutique, has launched Magna Emerging Markets Dividend fund.

The fund will invest in 30-40 emerging market stocks which demonstrate a sustainable high dividend yield and strong earnings growth.

The fund aims to invest in emerging market stocks with a sustainable high dividend yield plus strong earnings growth and will be structured as a UCITS III domiciled vehicle in Ireland.

The portfolio will focus on around 30-40 holdings with the underlying assets expected to be listed across a range of stock markets, including London, AIM and local emerging markets with a projected annual dividend yield of 6+%.

Julian Mayo and Gabor Sitanyi, the co-chief investment officers at Charlemagne Capital, will co-manage the fund.

By Ivan Anderzhanov

Cypriot lender Hellenic Bank is to begin full banking operations in Russia in January of next year.

The bank will begin operating after acquiring a license from the Central Bank of Russia in May 2009, the bank said in a statement.

Russians have long favoured the Mediterranean Island as a getaway mostly for its tax advantages. Maybe some of the many thousands of Russkis leaving there are looking to repatriate their assets from Cyprus.

By Andrei Skvarsky.

The “KIT” and “Fortis” brands are to be dropped three years after the launch of Russian-Belgian fund management venture.

Both KIT and Fortis blew up following the economic crisis with former being acquired by France’s BNP Paribas and the latter by state entities.

The venture is likely to be dubbed the rather catchy TCB BNP Paribas, according to Russian business daily Vedomosti.

BNP Paribas’s investment arm acquired a 50% stake in KIT Fortis after buying the Belgian arm of global investment company Fortis.

The other half of the fund management firm belongs to KIT Finance, which, as TransCreditBank (TCB), is controlled by rail transport monopoly Russian Railways (RZD). However, TCB plans to take over BNP’s interest.

The reorganised company will announce its new branding and strategy at a press briefing on Wednesday.

By Ivan Anderzhanov

Renaissance Capital has yet to exhaust its capacity this year to sign joint ventures.

From Serbia to Belarus, from corporate finance in London to tie-ups in Ulan-Bator, the Russian-headquartered bank has trekked the world to find a friend. Rencap founder could have turned to Facebook but at least it gets him out of  the house.

The latest partnership sees the bank hooking up with Jeffrey Waterous to form a new advisory business focusing on oil and gas asset sales the Middle East, Africa and other emerging markets.

Based in Bahrain with offices in Istanbul, Delhi and Casablanca, Renaissance JMW Energy will be looking to tap into energy companies eager to do deals in emerging markets.

The rationale makes sense for Rencap as it gives them exposure to yet another markets without committing major finance resources.  Some of these jvs will probably fall by the wayside but one or two might just make a buck.