KOMMERSANT. Investment fund Vostok Nafta Investments applied to buy a 15% interest in lending institution Tinkoff Credit Systems (TCS) for $30 mln, the bank’s co-owner Oleg Tinkoff said. The entire bank, according to him, was valued by the investors at $200 mln. The lending institution is to float additional shares due to the appearance of a new shareholder.
Uralsib analyst Leonid Slipchenko finds the bank’s $200 mln valuation as overstated. In all likelihood, Oleg Tinkoff’s authority and «a good business idea» played an important role, he thinks. He went on to say that if it were not a liquidity crunch, Tinkof could have not sold such major stakes in the bank and could have raised development funds in the form of loans.
«As TCS is a startup, the price tag is quite high» — agrees Bank of Moscow analyst Dmitry Khamrakulov. «Since the bank entered the market not at the most favorable time, it is now of strategic importance to the bank to find an understanding in the investment community and demonstrate that well-known investors trust the lender» — Khamrakulov thinks.
