By Andrei Skvarsky. Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan have organised what will be the first IPO of a Russian healthcare firm on the London Stock Exchange. MD Medical Group Investments Plc, a leading provider of private health care for women and children, expects to raise between $295m and $343m via its IPO of global depositary… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Deals
Russian capital markets hooked up to Euroclear system
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Euroclear financial services company has plugged Russia’s capital markets into its pan-European settlement and clearing system, according to Business New Europe (BNE). The Brussels-based system is now open to OFZs, one of the most actively traded classes of Russian government bonds, and to other Russian government and municipal bonds, corporate bonds… Continue Reading
Baring Vostok Capital Partners raises $1.5 billion for investment in Russia
Equity firm Baring Vostok Capital Partners has raised the largest investment fund in Russia totaling $1.5 billion to invest in local internet projects, financial services and the resources industry. Moscow-based Baring Vostok, headed by former banker Michael Calvey, Alexey Kalinin and Elena Ivashentseva, has attracted $1.15 billion for its fifth main fund, Baring Vostok Private… Continue Reading
Raiffeisen, Sberbank co-run Eurasian Development Bank’s Eurobond sale
By Andrei Skvarsky. Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Sberbank CIB, a former unit of Troika Dialog, co-managed the recent successful sale of the Russian ruble-denominated Eurobonds by Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), an international institution set up by the governments of Russia and Kazakhstan. The five-year securities with maximum 8% yields made up what was the first-ever… Continue Reading
BlackRock buys stake in Micex-RTS with RDIF support
By Andrei Skvarsky. Funds run by BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, have bought an undisclosed number of shares in Moscow’s Micex-RTS exchange with support from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a sovereign co-investment fund whose task is to attract foreign private equity to Russia. The sale of the stake to funds managed by… Continue Reading
Russian Central Bank to sell part of stake in Sberbank
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Central Bank plans to sell off some of its shares in Sberbank, a move that would still leave the overseer of Russia’s monetary system in control of the country’s biggest lender. Up to 1,712,994,999 ordinary shares, which make up 7.58% of Sberbank’s capital, would go on sale, according to a statement from… Continue Reading
Micex-RTS president Aganbegyan quitting
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow’s Micex-RTS stock exchange is parting company with its president, Ruben Aganbegyan, who carried through a merger project that brought today’s main Russian bourse into being last year. A Micex-RTS statement said Aganbegyan, who pulled off the merger of Moscow’s Micex and RTS exchanges, is resigning with effect from September 25 and… Continue Reading
Abraaj, US govt launch $400m Middle East private equity fund
By Andrei Skvarsky. Abraaj Capital, a leading Middle East private equity firm, is going to set up a $400m fund to boost small- and medium-scale business in North Africa and the Middle East and has signed a $150m deal with the US government to partially finance the project. Egypt is “one of the core target… Continue Reading
Troika Dialog’s brokerage renamed SIB Financial Broker
Troika Dialog’s brokerage unit, Financial Broker Troika Dialog, has changed its name to SIB Financial Broker. The renaming of this and other divisions of Troika is part of the ongoing merger between the Moscow-headquartered investment firm and Sberbank designed to give Russia’s biggest lender an investment banking platform. The broker’s change of name will not… Continue Reading
Otkritie CEO tapped for Nomos president as part of takeover
By Andrei Skvarsky. Otkritie Financial Corp’s chief executive and main stakeholder, Vadim Belyayev, has been tapped for president of Nomos-Bank as part of a recent deal that will make Nomos part of the Moscow-headquartered corporation within the next couple of years. Belyayev is likely to receive his new appointment within a month, Russian business daily… Continue Reading
Otkritie to take over Nomos
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Otkritie Financial Corp plans to buy out Nomos-Bank, in which it owns a one-fifth stake, in a declared bid to become “the largest independent public financial group in Russia” within the next three years. Otkritie, which plans an initial public offering, said in a statement it has clinched a deal with… Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: New investment fund going after Russian agriculture’s untapped potential
By Andrei Skvarsky. Three British businessmen have set up a fund to invest in agriculture in Russia and elsewhere in the CIS, turning to a largely neglected industry with vast investment opportunities. Investing in the abysmal infrastructure of Russian agriculture is the chief objective of the fund, which has an equity target of $150m and… Continue Reading
RenCap gains quicker access to Micex-RTS with GATElab module
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has obtained much faster access to the Micex-RTS stock exchange this month by launching a software module developed by electronic trading solutions provider GATElab. By using GATE’s high frequency software trading module, a RenCap client would take a maximum of 130 microseconds to gain one way nic-to-nic access to Micex-RTS,… Continue Reading
RenCap’s ranks of clients likely to swell after etrade deal
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has joined the trading network of global online services provider SunGard in a move enabling the Russian investment bank to offer brokerage services to more than 2,000 asset management companies and 530 brokerages seeking access to Russian markets. SunGard clients will now be able to route trade order flows directly to Russia’s Micex-RTS… Continue Reading
AGC makes biggest-ever Middle East investment in Russia
By Andrei Skvarsky. AGC Equity Partners has acquired $175m interest in a major Russian generating company in what is seen as the largest-ever Middle East investment in Russia. The London-headquartered firm with a team in the Middle East is part of an international consortium that has bought a 26.43% blocking stake in Italian-controlled Enel OGK-5… Continue Reading
Sberbank of Russia and Troika Dialog Announce the Closure of their Deal to Create the Largest Universal Banking Institution in Russia
Sberbank of Russia and Troika Dialog announce the closure of the deal to merge the two companies. This landmark event signals the creation of the largest universal banking institution in Russia. The integration of Troika Dialog will enable Sberbank to reach a new level of client service through high-quality financial consultation and a broad choice… Continue Reading
Charlie Ryan seals his reputation as Russia's most successful banker
By Andrei Skvarsky. UFG founder Charlie Ryan has sealed his reputation as the most successful foreign banker in Russia ever by clinching a deal which nets him a fourth payout from Deutsche Bank. The American banker, who oversaw Deutsche Bank’s Russian operation from 2005 to 2010, is selling Deutsche the remaining 60% stake in UFG’s… Continue Reading
VTB to heavily benefit from Sechin’s privatisation initiative
By Andrei Skvarsky. State-owned bank VTB would benefit seriously during its planned partial privatisation from a share pricing measure proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, Renaissance Capital analysts argue. Sechin last week proposed an amendment to the 2011-2013 privatisation programme to ensure that the starting price of a state company in any privatisation deal should not be lower… Continue Reading
RenCap boosts presence in Turkey by taking over Istanbul broker
By Andrei Skvarsky. Renaissance Capital has clinched a deal to buy out Istanbul-based brokerage Mira Menkul Degerler in building up its presence in Turkey. Burak Akbulut, who has been in charge of RenCap’s business in Turkey, has been appointed as acting chief executive of the emergent Renaissance Capital Turkey, the Russian firm said… Continue Reading
Deutsche Bank snaps up remainder of UFG Capital Management
By Ivan Anderzhanov. Germany’s Deutsche Bank will take over the remaining 60% in the Russia’s UFG Capital Management it doesn’t own in an effort to boost its presence in the country’s nascent asset management sphere. The financial details of the transaction weren’t disclosed. Deutsche UFG Capital Management has 370 million euro of assets under management. Detusche bought the… Continue Reading
VTB inhales one of Europe’s main cigarette makers
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s VTB Capital has completed the acquisition of Bulgartabac, one of Europe’s leading cigarette manufacturers. The investment banking arm of state-owned VTB Group, Russia’s second biggest lender, said in a statement it had paid 100.1m euros ($136.8m) for its 79.83% stake in the Sofia-based company. The terms of the deal include commitments… Continue Reading
Barclays offloads Russian retail to focus on investment banking
By Andrei Skvarsky. Barclays Bank’s Russian unit will focus on investment banking after offloading its retail and commercial banking operations in Russia under a deal it has just signed with investors including banker Igor Kim. The deal follows a February 15 announcement by the British institution that it would close its retail and commercial banking business in Russia. Barclays is one… Continue Reading
Micex-RTS merger wins 'deal of the year' prize
By Andrei Skvarsky. Micex and RTS, Russia’s two key stock exchanges, have won a prize from a Russian business magazine for their current merger, a $1bn deal to be closed on December 19. The Kompaniya weekly declared the two exchanges winners of the company of the year prize in the deal of the year category, according to statements from… Continue Reading
UniCredit sets out fund distribution alliance with BNP Paribas
By Andrei Skvarsky. UniCredit’s lending arm in Russia will be selling, exchanging and redeeming shares in 18 mutual funds managed by French-Russian venture TKB BNP Paribas Investment Partners under a new distribution agreement. The deal between the Italian lender and TKB BNP Paribas, which is co-owned by France’s BNP Paribas and Russian railways monopoly RZD,… Continue Reading
Sberbank buying Russian unit of Allianz
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has announced it is buying a Russian unit of Europe’s largest insurance company, Allianz. Sberbank’s 100% takeover of Allianz Life is to be finished before the year end, according to a statement from Russia’s biggest lender. It has not been disclosed how much Sberbank is paying for Allianz Life, which is… Continue Reading
Sberbank targeting cheap buyouts in crisis-rocked Europe
By Andrei Skvarsky. Wounded European banks UniCredit Group, Raiffeisen, Societe Generale and KBC Group are the next most likely targets for acquisition-hungry Russian behemoth Sberbank. Sberbank, which has already gobbled up Austria’s VBI and is looking at Dexia’s Turkish unit, is keen for more action in Western European countries bombed out by the… Continue Reading
BRIC exchanges join up the dots for alliance
By Marcus Williams. The exchanges of the emerging markets bloc of Brazil, Russia, India and China are forming an alliance to help deepen their liquidity and offer investors pooled exposure to their markets. This initiative was announced at the 51st AGM of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) in Johannesburg yesterday. The initiative brings together… Continue Reading
Russia to bail out debt-ridden European countries?
By Marcus Williams. Russia may rescue Europe from its debt crisis provided it sees a concrete rescue plan from the continent’s partners, President Dmitry Medvedev’s economic aide said yesterday. Former finance minister Alexei Kudrin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the issue of debt with Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado, according to the aide Arkady… Continue Reading
Sberbank may bid for European lender’s Turkish subsidiary
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Sberbank is considering bidding for DenizBank, a Turkish lender owned by troubled European bank Dexia. Dexia, a Brussels-headquartered bank anticipating what would be a second state bailout in the past few years, has its foreign assets up for sale. “It is clear that Turkey is very much in… Continue Reading