RIA NOVOSTI. The buyers of Deutsche Bank’s equity stake in RTS, which the bank sold on February 18, are Quim Enterprises Limited and Renaissance Securities (Cyprus) Limited (part of Renaissance Group), which gained 2.46% and 6.45% of the Russian stock exchange, respectively, RTS said in a press release quoted by RIA Novosti.
Following the transaction Quim Enterprises Limited upped its stake in RTS from 2.55% to 5.01%, while that held by Renaissance Securities rose from 2.13% to 8.58%.
Deutsche Bank, which owned 8.9% of RTS through Deutsche Securities, announced the sale of its interest on February 18. The lending institution did not disclose the buyer or the selling price of the shares.
On February 1, 2011 Russian biggest exchanges MICEX and RTS agreed to merge. In line with the arrangements made, MICEX is to acquire control over RTS from the latter’s five shareholders: Renaissance Capital, Aton, Alfa-Bank, Troika Dialog and Da Vinci. Longer term, MICEX expects to acquire stakes held by the other shareholders. RTS shareholders will receive 35% of the value of their holdings in cash and 65% will be paid via equity stakes in the merged exchange. The stock swap ratio was set at 1:3, and RTS was assessed at a premium to the market.
Transcreditbank CEO and KIT Finance board chairman Yury Novozhilov told RIA Novosti in early February that the owners of RTS’s 11% stake, which is held by the bank (10%) and the investment fund of Transcreditbank and BNP Paribas (1.048%), agreed to sell their interest in RTS to MICEX.
A merger agreement between MICEX and RTS is planned to be executed until mid-April, and the transaction is scheduled to be closed till the end of 2Q 2011. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which currently owns 37% of MICEX, is going to pull out of the merged exchange within 2—3 years.
