Kellner started with 5%

PPF Group bought a stake in Nomos Bank

The Czech financial group PPF, which owns the retail bank Home Credit and Finance in Russia, acquired a 5% stake in Nomos Bank on Friday . The deal was concluded within the framework of a previously signed agreement, according to which Home Credit and Nomos will become part of the financial holding company by the end of the year.

As you know, in May of this year, shareholders of both credit institutions agreed to create a special company that will own 100% of the shares of the two banks. In the summer, the company Russia Finance Corporation BV was registered in Holland, and last week the Federal Antimonopoly Service allowed it to buy 100% of the shares of Home Credit and Nomos Bank. For now, this company is fully owned by PPF (its main shareholder is Czech billionaire Petr Kellner). As Nomos shares are sold, the bank's owners will begin to contribute the proceeds from the sale to the capital of Russia Finance Corporation and receive a share in it. But under what conditions Czech and Russian shareholders will own the company remains to be seen. It is expected that the final calculation of shares will be determined after an audit of two banks based on the results of the first half of 2007, that is, in one and a half to two months.

According to the general director of Interfax-CEA, Mikhail Matovnikov, Nomos shareholders could agree on the sale of their bank with a coefficient of 4 (that is, the price of the bank is four times the size of its capital - 9.8 billion rubles in the first half of the year).

On Friday, PPF announced that, according to a previously agreed plan, Russia Finance Corporation bought a 5% stake in Nomos and plans to acquire 100% of the shares by the end of the year. However, for this it is necessary to obtain the approval of the Central Bank. After both banks enter the holding, they will continue to operate independently. As you know, their specifics are different. Home Credit is one of the leaders in consumer lending in Russia, engaged exclusively in retail business. Nomos Bank, whose main shareholder is the ICT group, serves corporate clients; in addition, it is one of the three Russian banks in terms of the volume of transactions with precious metals. Recently, Nomos has repeatedly stated its desire to develop its retail business. The owners of both financial institutions expect that the created structure will enter the top ten largest Russian banks. Now, according to Interfax, Nomos Bank ranks 18th in terms of assets, Home Credit is 45th.

In May, bankers and analysts, assessing the deal, believed that shareholders of both banks could benefit from being in the holding. For the owners of Nomos, this is an opportunity to support the bank’s capitalization with the help of a Czech partner and gain access to retail business development technologies. As you know, for the sake of an agreement with PPF, the ICT group refused to hold an IPO of Nomos Bank, which was planned for this summer. For the Czechs, this is an opportunity to diversify their business in Russia. According to Polina Lazich, an analyst at Ak Bars Investment Company, “this alliance can be successful if the owners of the banks do not merge them.” As is known, the process of merging credit institutions in Russia is quite complex and requires a lot of time and financial costs.

Natalia ROMANOVA