BANK OF CYPRUS BUYS 80% OF RUSSIAN UNIASTRUM BANK

ArmInfo
2008-06-27 19:50:00

Bank of Cyprus (BC) is going to buy 80% of Uniastrum Bank (Russia).

The estimated cost of the bank is $720mln. BC says that Uniastrum
will continue independent development with focus on retail while the
Moscow subsidiary of BC, Bank of Cyprus Russia will offer services
to corporate clients.

The agreement on the purchase of the 80% stake has already been
signed. Now the parties are waiting for the approval of the regulating
authorities. The biggest shareholders of Uniastrum are its founders:
the chairman of the Board of Directors Georgy Piskov and President
Gagik Zakaryan (each having 22.64% stake). After the deal with CB
they will have 10% each. The other owners – three LLCs and Oxana
Belousova (each having 13%) – are selling their stakes. BC is going
to pay $576mln for the 80% stake.

By 2010 BC is expecting to get at least 10% dividends from the
deal. The remaining stakes can be bought by BC within the next three
years and their prices will depend on the financial performance of
the bank. "I am still the president of the bank," says Zakaryan.

The chairman of the Board of Unibank (Armenia) Vardan Atayan says that
the abovementioned deal does not imply the purchase of the Armenian
bank, however, it may strengthen its international positions.

The key shareholders of Unibank are Uniastrum Assets Management and Eva
Invest. The president of Unibank is Gagik Zakaryan, the chairman of the
Board – Georgy Piskov. The Unistream payment system, one of the most
interesting assets of Uniastrum, is not in the package of the deal.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress