RBC DAILY. Kirill Sokolov, Sovcombank’s current first deputy chairman, will be appointed to the position of a first deputy management board chairman at GE Money Bank. In the near future his candidature will be submitted to the Bank of Russia for approval.
As Sovcombank co-owner Sergei Khotimsky told RBC daily, it will be Sokolov who will coordinate the merger of two banks. As he added, Sovcombank mulls no new acquisitions on the banking market as the financial institution will be growing organically using its own opportunities. One of the opportunities will be an initial public offering that the bank plans to stage in 2015. “This is a decision made by the shareholders," emphasized Khotimsky who is also one of the lending institution’s owners (he holds nearly 20%).
Holger Laubenthal who presently chairs GE Money Bank’s management board will hold his position until the lending institution’s acquisition from General Electric is closed. Khotimsky said that Sokolov was busy with the transaction from the very beginning, due diligence was carried out under his supervision, as well as negotiations and the elaboration of the integration strategy. Sovcombank announced the lending institution’s purchase on October 28, and the deal is planned to be wrapped up within several months.
