Russia's second-largest bank, VTB, has announced today that it has found buyers for all of the shares it is offering as part of a $3.3 billion secondary stock offering. Despite slowdown in the Russian economy, the VTB offering comes as a sign that investor interest is still running high in the Russian banking sector, and the share price has fallen enough over the last few years to make VTB an even more attractive investment. The shares will trade on Russia's Micex exchange later this year.
According to DealBook, "The sovereign wealth funds of Norway, Qatar and Azerbaijan were among the investors that agreed to buy shares even before the placement came onto the market." The move by VTB is expected to allow for an expansion of the bank's domestic financing operations. As part of the deal, the Russian government sold options proportional to its overall stake in the bank of 75% to the sovereign wealth funds and other investors.
The development seems to be part of Putin's larger push for a more robust and self-sustaining domestic exchange and banking system in Russia. Putin has insisted that state-owned Russian companies should float on the Micex exchange, rather than on the NYSE or FTSE, in order to boost the Russian economy, and has supported the concept of "patriotic buying" by Russian investors.
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