KOMMERSANT. Orient Express Bank is holding negotiations over the purchase of Lada-Credit (based in Togliatti) from Novicombank, business daily Kommersant writes on Friday quoting sources close to Novicombank.
“At present, Lada-Credit’s due diligence has completed, the parties are negotiating a deal," a source familiar with the matter says. Orient Express Bank co-owner and management board chairman Sergey Vlasov declined to comment. Novikombank declined to give official comments either.
As the media wired, in 2010 Orient Express Bank took over Rostpromstroybank and Kamabank, bought two assets from foreign companies (Santander Consumer Bank from Spain’s Santander and Gorodskoi Ipotechny Bank from Morgan Stanley). According to the newspaper, since the beginning of the year Orient Express Bank has already acquired several business units with credit portfolios from MDM Bank (specifically, those located in Syktyvkar, Zheleznogorsk and Lipetsk) and is making arrangements to buy a number of divisions from Absolut Bank.
“Aggressive growth through acquisitions that Orient Express Bank exhibits resembles the way URSA-Bank expanded (prior to the merger with MDM Bank the bank was controlled by Igor Kim and his partners, and currently Kim is a minority shareholder of the merged bank — Kommersant’s note)," specifies Renaissance Credit deputy management board chairman Oleg Skvortsov.
“Market players attribute the bank’s aspiration to buy small lender Lada-Credit to Orient Express Bank’s desire to solidify positions in the Volga region,“ the newspaper writes. One of Lada-Credit’s primary corporate customers is AvtoVAZ (the automotive concern owns 20% of Novicombank). “If Lada-Credit changes hands AvtoVAZ as a customer will stay at Novicombank, in reality Orient Express Bank is going to buy a portfolio of auto loans in the region the bank is interested in,” a source familiar with the matter says. “The Volga region is one of the most attractive regions in terms of retail business expansion," adds Nordea Bank deputy management board chairman Andrey Maltsev.
