COMPANIES Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest lender by assets, is to take a 33 per cent stake in Troika Dialog, Russia’s second-largest investment bank, in a deal that marks the first foray by a foreign bank into Russia’s financial sector since it plunged into crisis.
The combination, which is subject to regulatory approval in South Africa and Russia, would see Johannesburg-based Standard swap a $200m convertible loan and its business in Russia, worth about $100m, for a 33 per cent stake in Troika Dialog, Troika Dialog said in a statement to Russian media Thursday night. One person familiar with the discussions valued Standard Bank’s Russian business at $100m.
