Deal of the Day: Interros Acquires Rosbank from Société Générale Group

The amount of the transaction by its participants has not yet been disclosed, however, it is reported that it has already been approved by the government commission for the control of foreign investment in the Russian Federation and will be closed within a few weeks - after receiving all necessary regulatory approvals.

Rosbank is one of the largest Russian banks. It has 4 million clients in Russia, and as of October 2021, it ranked ninth in the list of systemically important credit institutions of the Bank of Russia.

Previously, Rosbank already belonged to Interros, but in 2006-2011, a controlling stake in the bank passed to the Societe Generale group. Later, Rosbank included the Delta-Credit and Rusfinance banks, on the basis of which Rosbank began to develop its mortgage and car loans.

The Societe Generale report notes that the sale of Rosbank is connected with the decision of the French banking group to suspend its activities in Russia. At the same time, an Interros press release states that the parties to the transaction agreed to continue cooperation "for the development of Rosbank and in the interests of its clients."

Thus, the sale of Rosbank by the French banking group to the largest private Russian investment company may well become an example of the very “civilized” withdrawal of foreign companies from Russia, which is so much talked about in light of the increased sanctions pressure on Russian business and its foreign partners.

Vladimir Potanin himself has recently repeatedly spoken out in favor of such a model for the exit of foreign companies from the Russian market, in which the business acquires a new Russian owner, thereby maintaining stability, jobs and opportunities for further development.

According to experts, the deal will help maintain the stability of Rosbank and the full fulfillment of its obligations to customers. Interros has already stated that the company "will make every effort to develop Rosbank's business, maintain Rosbank's stability and create new opportunities for its customers and partners". This is expected to be achieved primarily through the integration of modern digital technologies and products into traditional banking services of Rosbank.

It is worth recalling that at the beginning of this year, Rosbank became a banking partner of Atomize, the first Russian digital platform that received a license from the Central Bank to work with digital financial assets. The partnership provided for the participation of Rosbank in the first project for the Russian market to create a blockchain infrastructure for the issuance and circulation of digital financial instruments.

Thus, as a result of the current transaction, in the near future Rosbank will be able to provide its customers and partners with new opportunities related to the development of digital services, including digital mortgages, digital factoring, etc.

According to experts, such transactions for the transfer by Western companies of their assets in the Russian Federation to their Russian partners testify to the continued confidence of investors in the Russian market, and also indicate that many of them do not exclude the possibility of returning to it after the situation in the world is settled.