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bne Invest
April 12, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 12
Russian retail sectors in focus as Russia's Sberbank eyes O'key chain
In yet another retail M&A deal, Russia's largest bank Sberbank is negotiating the acquisition of struggling Russian mid-cap retailer O'key, Reu- ters reported on April 11 citing unnamed industry sources. In January the management of O’Key met with investors to explain the new strategy, but left analysts unimpressed.
Reportedly Sberbank considers O'key as a finan- cial investment, as capitalisation of the players
in the segment is falling due to tight competition, shrinking incomes, and structural barriers to growth. The sources could not tell Reuters who would be the final buyer of O'key. The GDRs of the retailer jumped by 11% after the publication.
The news appears shortly after the dramatic ac- quisition of O'key's peer Lenta. As reported by bne IntelliNews, minority shareholders of Lenta are planning to block the acquisition of the company
by Severgroup of steel tycoon Alexei Mordashov and back a competing bid by retailing peer leading supermarket chain Magnit.
Russia's second-largest retailer Magnit showed interest in Lenta, shortly before the deal was closed with Mordashov, who has no other retail assets in his portfolio.
Under a binding agreement announced on April 1, Lenta's main shareholders TPG and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) were to sell their 34.44% and 7.47% stakes in Len- ta respectively, to Severgroup for $3.60 per GDR. The agreement is conditional upon Federal Anti- Monopoly Service (FAS) approval by 31 May and
is set to trigger a mandatory buyout cash offer to minorities at the same price.
Read the full story here
Shares in Turkish state-owned banks rally on news of capital injection
Shares in state-owned lenders Vakif and Halkbank rose 3.7% and 3.2%, respectively, after reports
on April 9 that the government plans to shore
up public lenders by injecting capital against
a backdrop in which the country’s economy is expected to contract this year.
The main stock exchange index, the BIST-100, closed the day 1.19% higher while the banking shares index was up 2%.
Seeking to sustain the flow of credit into the slumping economy, the Treasury is considering buying bonds that will be issued mostly by Ziraat Bankasi and Halkbank, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.
The blueprint for the capital injection is likely to be announced by Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak on April 10, when he is due to give a presentation on latest efforts to be made in