| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Israeli Bank to Fund Russian Small Biz
Hapoalim, Israel’s largest bank, announced yesterday in a press release that it was prepared to acquire a 78-percent interest in the small Russian SDM Bank for $111 million. Under Israeli control, the bank could increase crediting to small and midsize business, which is a priority for SDM. SDM issued a statement saying that Hapoalim will acquire 76 percent of the bank’s shares. It reached an agreement with minority shareholders on the acquisition of an additional 2 percent. It will raise its share to 85 percent in the course of the coming months. SDM chairman of the board Anatoly Landsman will retain his 15-percent share in the bank for five years, and then Hapaolim may raise its share to 100 percent.
The Israelis assessed the bank at $142 million. That means the deal will be made with a coefficient to its capital of just over 2. That is less than the two previous deals with Russian banks this year. Barclays acquired Expobank with a coefficient of 4 to the bank’s capital, and Bank of Cyprus acquired Uniastrum with a coefficient of 3.1. According to Dengi financial weekly, as of April 1, 2008, SDM Bank was ranked 168th in Russia by the size of its capital (1.5 billion rubles) and 125th by net assets (15.2 billion rubles). It has 12 divisions, 8 branches and an office in London. Hapoalim tried to buy a Russian bank last year, but, in the words of the Israeli newspaper Globes, the deal failed “because of the significant risk connected with the instable political situation.”
Landsman and chairman of the SDM management board Maxim Solntsev will retain executive position, and long-term contracts have been made with the remaining executives. Foreign-owned banks have shown mixed results in Russia. The Czech PPF Group bought the small bank Tekhnopolis in 2002 and turned it into the highly successful Home Credit and Finance Bank. But Extrobank, bought by the Spanish Santander Group last year has yet to show any movement.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 18, 2008
|
|
|
