Jul. 30 – International investment banks Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse bought stakes of 3.88 percent and 2.77 percent, respectively, in the state-run Bank of Moscow.
According to Reuters, the Bank of Moscow has a total market cap of US$5.1 billion.”Goldman Sachs has investments in more than 20 projects in Russia, but there is no large Russian bank among them, though this sector is interesting to us as we see renewal of the Russian economy,” Christopher Barter, head of Goldman Sachs in Russia said to Russian daily Kommersant.
Before this purchase, Goldman Sachs had only a small stake in one Russian financial institute – Tinkoff Credit Systems.
“This is more tactic then strategic investment, we may buy stakes in other Russian banks as well and sell our Bank of Moscow stake when the right moment arrives,” Christopher Barter said.
According to him, Goldman Sachs has no plan to raise its share in Bank of Moscow and might sell its current stake in three years.
Earlier this month, the Bank of Moscow sold US$728 million of additional shares to private and public investors.
“Some stakes were offered to global banks that understand that the worst is over and that the Russian banking sector provides good opportunities for growth,” Leonid Slipchenko of Uralsib Bank said to Reuters.
At the current market price, Goldman Sachs’ stake is worth about US$200 million and Credit Suisse has shares valued at around US$141 million.
The appearance of two international banks at once among the Bank of Moscow’s shareholders can testify that the future plan is to issue an IPO, Kommersant speculates.
Christopher Barter has not excluded that Goldman Sachs may be called on as one of the underwriters for a Bank of Moscow IPO if the decision was made.
Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan have proposed issuing a Spring 2011 IPO for Russian internet investment group Digital Sky Technologies in London.
