VTB supervisors to address buying into TCB on Oct 4
MOSCOW. Oct 1 (Interfax) - The supervisory board at Vneshtorgbank (VTB) will on October 4 take up the question of acquiring a stake in TransCreditBank (TCB) , VTB President and board chairman Andrei Kostin told the press in Yalta on Friday.
VTB is prepared to acquire a controlling stake in TCB, Kostin said. "We have agreement in principle [to buy into TCB]. We figure it [the stake] will be controlling," he said.
Kostin did not comment on media reports that the potential TCB stake would cost 2.2 times its capital. "The price will be good," he said.
A number of corporate decisions need to be made, including the board of directors at Russian Railways (RZD) approving a deal, Kostin noted. TCB is RZD's reference bank. "We'll close the deal before the end of the year," he said.
That VTB was negotiating this became known in early July.
RZD currently owns 55% of TCB shares, the national railways pension fund Blagosostoaniye 19.95%.
VTB ended H1 2010 in 2nd place by assets on the Interfax-100 ranking of Russia's biggest banks, TCB - 14th place.