KOMMERSANT. Bank Tarkhany, the second largest lender in the Penza region, will be rehabilitated by First Republican Bank, Kommersant wrote. The transaction to acquire 75% of the bank’s securities could be announced in the days to come. Additional benefits from the deal will obtain direct investments fund Renfin II that bought into First Republican Bank this spring, experts are confident.
According to Bank Tarkhany executive board chairman Sennik Saakyan, the banks and the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) could sign an agreement this week. First Republican Bank confirmed talks are under way, but declined to disclose any details. DIA deputy general director Andrey Melnikov told the newspaper his agency gives no comments until official documents are signed.
In late November the bank said it was in talks over the sale of its controlling interest to Rosselkhozbank. “We requested Rosselkhozbank to adopt a decision within two or three days, no answer was made, therefore we applied to CBR and DIA” — the lending institution’s deputy executive board chairman Yury Ravvich said. On Friday Rosselkhozbank’s representatives told the newspaper that the offer to take over Bank Tarkhany is still under consideration.
DIA and CBR decided to rescue Bank Tarkhany by assigning control over the lender to First Republican Bank. DIA estimated the amount needed to restore Bank Tarkhany’s creditworthiness in the range of Rub 1.5 bln to Rub 3 bln, a source familiar with the situation told Kommersant. DIA will provide these funds as a 5-year credit facility to First Republican Bank.
For the record, direct investments fund Renfin II, controlled by Renaissance Asset Management, acquired a 20% interest in the bank. Marina Chekurova who represents the interests of Renfin II at First Republican Bank’s BoD declined to comment on the deal involving Bank Tarkhany, but she noted that her company’s strategy calls for holding equity stakes in banks with strong positions on local markets and in terms of assets Bank Tarkhany trails only Sberbank in the Penza region.
