Russian Railways is looking to sell part of its stake in TransCreditBank
Russian Railways (RZhD) is the major shareholder in the bank with a 54.4% stake, with a further 19.95% owned by the Blagosostoyanie pension fund. Senior vice president of the Russian Railways Vadim Mikhailov said that the company is now thinking to offer its minor stake to meet its strategic plans and improve financial results.
“We need to sell just over 5% to deconsolidate TCB. The move would improve RZhD’s debt/EBITDA ratio considerably. It will be clear later on precisely how many shares we manage to sell”
VTB appears to be a major candidate to buy the stake, with Finance Minister, Alexey Kudrin saying that VTB could acquire TCB’s client base and expand its services
“The deal will significantly expand VTB’s customer base primarily through RZhD”
VTB chief Andrei Kostin has said the deal might be closed by the end of this year.
“If there is an agreement reached in September, I expect the deal to be closed later this year also VTB would preserve TCB's profile as a railway sector bank and relations with RZHD.”