Mediaboss Marketing

16 March 2012

The Jersey office of Walkers, the leading international law firm, has advised on the multi-jurisdictional aspects of the USD1bn merger between Sberbank and Troika Dialog, which will create a Russian 'superbank'.

Troika Dialog has securities trading, investment banking, private wealth and asset management operations in 21 cities across Russia plus offices in the UK, US, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Cyprus. The closure of this deal has created the largest universal banking institution in Russia.

Speaking previously on the closure of the deal, Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank, explained that the merged institution has ambitious targets, including to become a major global player in the area of investment banking.

We are taking the scope of our business to the next level," Gref commented. "The merger will enable us to modernize the Russian financial industry and increase the quality of services we offer to our corporate and private clients. We plan to consolidate and expand our leading positions in investment banking in both Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the next two to three years and intend to become one of the top 15 global players in terms of debt securities, currency, and commodities operations in the next five years. We have ambitious goals: in 2014 we expect to double income from investment banking activity. At the moment we are already working on over 70 investment banking deals.

Walkers provided multi-jurisdictional legal services for this transaction, including acting as Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands counsel. The Walkers team was led by Partner Jack Boldarin who commented:

Our involvement in this deal underscores our successful track record in advising on the market leading, cross-border corporate transactions in the Russia and CIS region.

This deal will play a major role in hastening the modernisation of Russias financial industry and provide a firm footing upon which Sberbank can move to reach its ambitious growth targets in its key business areas, including investment banking.

Russia and CIS expertise is a key part of our offering here in our European based hub in Jersey, an area from where we can deliver time zone sensitive, multi-jurisdictional advice on British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Jersey and Irish law to our international clients.

Sberbank is the largest credit institution in Russia and the CIS, presently accounting for 26% of the aggregate banking assets and 30% of banking capital in the wider region. Sberbank has a total of 20,000 branches across Russia. Sberbank accounts for 47.9% of retail deposits, 31% of consumer loans and 31% of corporate loans in Russia.

Link:
Walkers Advises On Offshore Aspects Of Russian 'Superbank' Merger