Alfa Bank has confirmed that its founders Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven are discussing the sale of their shares to another beneficiary, Andrey Kosogov. Representative of a credit organization declared RBC that the change of controlling shareholders will not require regulatory approval.
“As far as we know, such an agreement is indeed in the works. It is too early to talk about its completion – the parties have to go through a series of corporate and legal procedures,” the source said.
Earlier, the Financial Times (FT), citing sources, reported that Aven and Friedman had decided to sell their Alfa Bank shares to their business partner Andrei Kosogov. According to the publication, the businessmen thus intend to obtain the lifting of the Western sanctions which are imposed on them. FT material noted that Kosogov is ready to spend 178 billion rubles ($2.3 billion) on the stock purchase.
Aven owns 12.4% of Alfa-Bank, Mikhail Fridman – 32.9%. The businessmen registered ownership of these shares through the Luxembourg holding company ABH Holdings, which controls the Cypriot “parent” company of the bank.
Fridman and Aven were subject to EU and UK sanctions in 2022. At the same time, restrictive measures were also introduced against their partners, Alexei Kuzmichev and German Khan, who then transferred their shares in ABH Holdings in Kosogov. As a result, he became the owner of 41% of Alfa-Bank.
In February, the European Union included Alfa-Bank in the tenth sanctions package. The restrictions include freezing the assets of a credit institution in the EU, disconnecting from SWIFT, as well as a ban on transactions.
