By Ivan Anderzhanov Russian gas giant Gazprom has mandated Gazprombank and Renaissance Capital to arrange a 300 billion roubles ($10.24bn)in bonds. Rouble bonds have become popular on the local fixed-income market following the rapid rise of the ruble and as commodity prices have rallied. . Gazprom plans to raise the sum in 13 issues over… Continue Reading
Ex-Renaissance and Alfa managers to set up $1bn fund
By Andrei Skvarsky Former managers at Renaissance Group and Alfa Group plan to set up a new $1bn private equity fund to invest in Russian companies. The new fund to be run by Elbrus Capital will incorporate funds acquired from Renaissance Partners, the Renaissance Group subsidiary, according to a report in RBC Daily. Elbrus plans… Continue Reading
VTB Capital names Alexey Zabotkin as investment strategy head
Russian investment bank VTB Capital has named Alexey Zabotkin as its new head of investment strategy. He joins the bank from VTB Asset Management, where he had been chief investment officer and deputy chief executive since September 2009. In 2008-09, he was chief investment officer with United Capital Partners, a Moscow-based investment boutique. For the… Continue Reading
Rencap eyes brokerages acquisitions in Africa
By Marcus Williams Renaissance Capital, the fast growing emerging markets investment bank, is eyeing deals to buys brokerages in “five or six” African countries. Speaking to the Financial Times, its bullish founder Stephen Jennings said the group expected to close deals within the next few months. Rencap is expanding at breakneck speed 18 months after… Continue Reading
Russia's Interior Ministry seeks the arrest of Hermitage Capital partner Ivan Cherkesov
By Ivan Anderzhanov Russia’s interior is seeking the arrest of Hermitage Capital partner Ivan Cherkesov just four months after the death of the firm’s lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in custody. The London-based hedge fund firm claimed the same police officer, whose investigation led to the scandalous death of Magnitsky, is responsible for the case. “Major Silchenko… Continue Reading
Inflows into Russian funds/ETFs continue for the sixth straight week
By Vladimir Kuznetsov, Equity Analyst At UniCredit Securities Thanks to the sixth straight week of net inflows into Russian funds and ETFs in the week to 25 March 2010, the total volume of net attracted cash YTD reached almost $1.3bn (vs. $2.0bn for all of 2009), EPFR Global data shows. On the other hand, weekly… Continue Reading
Rencap steppes into Mongolia with two tie-ups
By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow Emerging markets investment bank Renaissance Capital has agreed on alliances with two investment firms in the Central Asian frontier of Mongolia. The bank has signed deals with International Capital Corporation (MICC) and Monet following its recent joint venture agreements in Serbia, India and openings in South Africa and Belarus. In… Continue Reading
Raiffeisen pushes ahead with RZB in spite of fears for shareholders
By Ivan Anderzhanov Management at Raiffeisen International‘s are pushing ahead with a merger with its unlisted Austrian parent RZB despite concern that minority shareholders may lose out in the deal. The bank said they were intensively pursuing a merger, which would be put to shareholders at annual general meetings in July. Analysts have said shareholders,… Continue Reading
Alfa Group to replenish banking staff after cuts last year
By Andrei Skvarsky Russia’s Alfa Group plans to start hiring new staff this year for its corporate loan division and various retail services after cutting it its banking division in 2008 and 2009. Alfa reduced its banking personnel by 15 percent in the wake of the financial crisis, with the most cuts falling on the… Continue Reading
Moscow recruiter Antal hires former Rencap recruitment head
By Andrei Skvarsky Russian recruitment firm Antal has hired Karl Franzmann, a former director of recruitment at Renaissance Capital, the Moscow-based emerging markets bank. Franzmann, whose tenure at Renaissance Capital coincided with the bank’s initial rapid expansion into sub-Saharan Africa and other developing markets, has over ten years of experience in executive recruitment and executive… Continue Reading
Societe Generale merges Rosbank with BSGV in Russia
By Marcus Williams Societe Generale, France’s second largest bank, and its partner Interros today announced they are combining their banking operations in Russia. Rosbank and BSGV, will be merged into a single unit but still retain two separate brands. The new entity will have the specialised mortgage and consumer lending companies Rusfinance and Delta Credit… Continue Reading
COMMENT: Kazakhstani non-performing loans continue to decline
By Rustam Botashev, Equity Analyst at UniCredit Securities Kazakhstan’s Financial Supervisory Agency (FSA) published preliminary banking statistics for 2009. Our view: The banking sector’s losses for the year totalled KZT 2,837bn ($19.1bn), or KZT 127bn ($0.9bn) excluding the two defaulted banks (BTA Bank and Alliance Bank). Retail loans declined by 4.8% yoy and corporate loans… Continue Reading
Otkritie boosts Investment Banking team
By Marcus Williams Fast-growing Russian brokerage Otkritie has lured Temo Jorbenadze from VTB Capital as head of Investment Banking’s Financing Services Group. Otkritie, which has doubled in size in the last year, also hired Dmitry Perman as a director from the Moscow-based boutique advisory firm Advance Capital. Jorbenadze was a director for investment banking at… Continue Reading
Former Merrill Lynch investment head Arofikin returns as hiring picks up
By Ivan Anderzhanov Andrei Arofikin, the former managing director of Merrill Lynch’s investment banking team in Moscow, has returned to the US investment bank as hiring shows signs of picking up. Arofikin quit the bank in March 2008 to join the state savings bank Sberbank where he replaced Andrey Trusov who chaired the group’s international… Continue Reading
£21bn USS pension fund hires emerging markets team
By Marcus Williams in London The £21bn USS pension scheme in the UK has hired an emerging markets team charged with leading a push into the asset class. The fund, which is the second largest private sector pension fund in the UK, has hired Carmel Peters, Danila Gallarato and Chris Shale to boost its emerging… Continue Reading
Can Hong Kong dislodge London as the main destination for Russian IPOs ?
By Marcus Williams in London Russian aluminum maker UC Rusal today reportedly raised $2.24 billion from its Hong Kong and Paris initial public offerings, after the company priced the shares around the middle of the range indicated in marketing literature. Bankers said the listing could led to a trickle of further Russian listings in Hong… Continue Reading
Rencap poaches Szalai as head of FIG from Troika Dialog
By Marcus Williams in London Renaissance Capital has poached Zoltai Szalai as managing director and head of the Financial Institutions Group (FIG) from Russian rival Troika Dialog. Szalai will lead equity and debt capital markets as well as mergers and acquisitions advisory for companies in the financial sector across Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and… Continue Reading
Emerging Manager Firm Shares Fundamentals of Success
By James LaDue from Emerging Manager Focus SCO Capital Partners fund managers have been posting overall gains throughout the past 3 years. I wanted to get more information from the firm based on its success as an emerging manager firm. When I contacted the organization, I was put in touch with John Doss, partner. Emerging… Continue Reading
Teplukhin quits Troika Dialog after 19 years for "new horizons"
By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow Pavel Teplukhin, a co-founder of Troika Dialog and a leading light in the development of Russia’s capital markets, has quit the Russian brokerage after 19 years without having a new job to go to. Moscow’s rumour mill first started churning up that Teplukhin would leave the Moscow group over a… Continue Reading
Former Uralsib boss Donskikh resurfaces at Sberbank
By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow Andrey Donskikh, the former chairman of Uralsib Financial Corporation, has resurfaced at the state savings bank Sberbank in a senior role. Donskih, who stepped down from his role at Uralsib in November after five years at the group, will come deputy president of the bank. A report in today’s Vedomosti… Continue Reading
Shari Redstone and UFG founder Charlie Ryan to buy Russia theatre chain
By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow Shari Redstone is partnering with Russian banking veteran Charlie Ryan to acquire Russian theatre operator Rising Star Media from National Amusements, the company controlled by her billionaire father Sumner Redstone. Shari Redstone, co-founder of Rising Star and president of National Amusements, will be chairman of the new entity, while fellow… Continue Reading
Russian Sovereign Bond 'beauty parade' kicks off
By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow The Russian government has unveiled a beauty parade of investment banks who will compete to take part in Russia’s first international bond issue in over a decade. Russian investment bank VTB Capital is understood to have secured a role as one of the lead managers, alongside three bulge-bracket banks such… Continue Reading
Renaissance opens rep office Belarus before state sell-off
By Marcus Williams Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital today announced it was opening a representative office in Belarus in anticipation of a state-sponsored sell-off of assets by the former Soviet state. The office will be led by Sergey Levin, who joins the firm as chairman of Renaissance Capital in Belarus, and will be based in… Continue Reading
Key investment themes for 2009 and outlook for 2010
Jerome Booth, Head of Research at Ashmore Investment Management comments on the global backdrop for emerging markets over the past year and forecasts an encouraging future for EM asset classes. Reviewing some of the key themes in 2009: · Whilst there was global disruption to cross-border finance, the main negative impact on selected emerging countries… Continue Reading
Goldman goes long (and late) on Russian equities
By Marcus Williams Research strategists at Goldman Sachs are going long on Russian equities in 2010 on the basis that the country’s growth rate will rebound sharply. Goldman is forecasting that real GDP will rebound to +4.5% in 2010 and accelerate later in the year after a steep 9.5% decline this year. Compared with other… Continue Reading
Donsikh steps down from the top job at UralSib
By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow Andrey Donskikh, chairman of UralSib Financial Corporation, has stepped down from the bank’s top position. Donskih, who will retain ties in the group on its supervisory board and as chairman of the group’s holding structure, will be replaced by the current deputy chairman of the board Ildar Muslimov, who oversees… Continue Reading
EBRD boosts Russian banking sector with Promsvyaz deal
By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has confirmed it will buy a 11.7 % stake in Russia’s privately-owned PromSvyazBank for 4.6 billion roubles ($159.4m). Reports had been circulating since mid-October the the EBRD would take a minority stake in PromSvyaz. Brothers Alexey and Dmitry Ananiev own almost 85%… Continue Reading
Exclusive: Trust hires Goldman's Popatov as it rebuilds investment banking
By Ivan Anderzhanov in Moscow Trust Bank has hired Igor Potapov as head of investment banking as it attempts to rebuild its equity brokerage operation. A source close to Trust confirmed Potapov, a former head of sales trading at Goldman Sachs in Moscow, had been hired recently. Trust Investment Bank is a mid-tier broker and… Continue Reading
Pharos $350m agriculture fund targets Middle East investors
By Jason Corcoran Pharos Financial Advisors today launched a $350m private equity fund focused on acquiring and operating land in Eastern Europe, Eurasia and Africa. Pharos, a Russian-based investment firm which expanded to Dubai last year, is expecting to raise more than half of the fund from investors in the Middle East. The Pharos Miro… Continue Reading