Igor Kim closes purchase of WestLB's subsidiary in Russia
MOSCOW. Nov 26 (Interfax) - The main owner of Expobank, Igor Kim, has closed the purchase of a controlling stake in WestLB's subsidiary bank in Russia, WestLB Vostok, Expobank and WestLB said in a joint statement.
The Central Bank of Russia (CBR) and the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) approved Kim's acquisition, the statement said.
Expobank declined to tell Interfax the size of Kim's stake in WestLB Vostok.
"We closed the deal and plan to continue operations on WestLB Vostok Bank's system with a special focus on the corporate and investment business," Kim was quoted as saying in the statement.
Both sides announced their plans for the WestLB Vostok Bank purchase in July. The transaction was to be closed in the fourth quarter of 2012.
WestLB Vostok Bank is a subsidiary of the German banking group WestLB AG. In Russia it has a general CBAR banking license and has worked as a commercial bank since 1995. Assets to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) exceeded 50 billion rubles (about 1.25 billion euro) at the end of 2011 and profit totaled 600 million rubles (15 million euro).
Kim is a major shareholder of Expobank (Russia) and Expobank (Latvia) as well as the co-owner of Orient Express. At the start of September, Expobank closed the purchase of 100% in Surgut-based Sibbiznesbank. As a result, the former main shareholder in this bank, Road Construction Company Avtoban, which is controlled by Alexei Andreyev, who is a deputy in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District's Duma, purchased a 9% stake in Expobank.
Expobank has 12 offices in seven Russian cities (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul, Yekaterinburg and Perm).
The bank was founded in 1994. In March 2008, the bank was acquired by British holding Barclays Bank PLC and was renamed LLC Barclays Bank. The British owners sold the bank to Kim and his partners in autumn 2011. The new owners returned to the previous name, Expobank, at the start of 2012.
Expobank was 134th biggest bank in Russia by assets by the end of the third quarter of 2012 according to the Interfax 100 Ranking compiled by the Interfax Center for Economic Analysis. WestLB Vostok ranked 95th biggest bank.