INTERFAX. Swedish investment fund East Capital Explorer Financial Institutions is going to acquire 19.99% of Fia-Bank, based in Togliatti, for €15.5 mln. The investment fund made arrangements with the bank’s shareholders to buy this block of shares through the participation in the bank’s additional share issue, the fund said in a press release. This deal is to be approved by the Bank of Russia.
As of year-end 2007, Fia-Bank’s assets totaled €313 mln. The lender is controlled by individuals. East Capital already holds minority stakes in a number of Russian banks, including Loko-Bank, Bank Kedr (Krasnoyarsk), Akibank (Kazan), Severnaya Kazna (Ekaterinburg), Asian-Pacific Bank (Blagoveshchensk) and Probusinessbank.
In 2007, Fia-Bank ranked 155th in terms of assets in the Interfax-100 ranking, prepared by Interfax-CEA.
