UniCredit swaps Ukrsotsbank stake for share in Russian banking group
12 January 2016
UniCredit Group announced on Jan. 11 it has signed a binding agreement to transfer its stake in Ukrsotsbank (USCB UK) to ABH Holding, a company fully owned by Russian Alfa Group. In exchange, UniCredit will receive a 9.9% share in ABH Holding. As a net result of the disposal, UniCredit will incur about EUR 200 mln in extraordinary charges, according to the press release.
UniCredit owned 99.8% stake in Ukrsotsbank as of mid-December. ABH Holding owns directly banks in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and the Netherlands. The total assets of Ukrsotsbank and ABH Holding were USD 3.1 bln and USD 47.2 bln, respectively, as of the beginning of 2015.
Alexander Paraschiy: Following the deal, Alfa Group will control two of the top 10 banks (by total assets) in Ukraine, which are seventh-ranked Ukrsotsbank and eighth-ranked Alfa Bank. If merged, these two banks will become the nation’s fourth-biggest financial institution. At this moment however, no plans to merge the banks have been disclosed. The two Ukrainian banks have different profiles, with Alfa being fully focused on corporate lending, while Ukrsotsbank has been historically more focused on retail loans. We believe the deal will be neutral for USCB’s value, while it could be slightly negative for its image as Ukrainians view banks with EU-based shareholders more favorably than those with Russian roots.
