VEDOMOSTI. The supervisory board at Bank Broker gave the green light to issue additional shares worth Rub 10.01 bln, the business daily wrote. The shares will be floated via closed subscription and will be acquired by investment company Troika Dialog, the bank’s current shareholder. Currently, the lender’s charter capital is equal to Rub 239 mln. If all additional shares are placed, Bank Broker could enter the Top 30 of Russian banks in terms of capital.
The investment company bought Bank Broker from VTB in October 2007. At that time the company shelled out $2 mln for the 89% interest and later on it bought another 10.83%. The lending institution was acquired to provide the investment company’s growing client base with a wide range of financial services, Ruben Vardanyan said noting Troika Dialog now intends to exploit the lender’s potential more aggressively. The additional shares will be bought using Troika Dialog’s own funds. Meanwhile, placing securities for the total Rub 10 bln is not a must, Troika Dialog Group’s board chairman pointed out.
Experts believe that such a major player as Troika Dialog needs a bank with adequate capital in order to lend clients to purchase, for example, securities and execute repurchase securities transactions. Furthermore, Bank Broker will be able to deeper tap governmental funds, e.g. to take a subordinated loan from VEB, market players think. A Troika Dialog source said most likely the investment company will not be seeking subordinated loans.
