Russian businessmen Mikhail Fridman and Pyotr Aven will sell their stake in Alfa Bank to their business partner Andrei Kosogov for 178 billion rubles ($2.34 billion). It has been reported TASS With reference to the Financial Times.
Kosogov confirmed the deal in an interview with the publication and declined to comment further. Aven and Friedman did not answer questions from newspaper employees.
A Financial Times source said the London-based entrepreneurs “wanted to do everything they could to get rid of Russian assets” as they sought to lift sanctions imposed on them after Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine.
The asset transfer is expected to be completed in the spring. At the same time, the publication’s sources noted that this would require approval from regulators in several countries, which could complicate the task. According to the Financial Times, the holding company of the Alfa-Bank banking group ABH Holdings SA, where the transaction will take place, is registered in Cyprus.
Aven and Friedman own 12% and 33% of the bank, while Unicredit and the Cancer Research Foundation are minority shareholders of the bank. TASS states that in March 2022, German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev split from the bank’s shareholders. At the same time, Kosogov, one of the minority shareholders, became the largest beneficiary with a 41% stake.
Last February, Friedman and Aven included They left Alfa-Bank’s board of directors after entering the European Union’s sanctions lists.
In December 2022, it was reported that the British National Crime Agency detained a Russian citizen suspected of money laundering in London. The businessman and two accomplices were detained. Cash was found during a search of the house. A large number of electronic devices were also seized. All three were later released on bail. According to TASS, British law enforcement could have arrested Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman for violating personal sanctions.
At the same time, the press service of Alfa-Bank refuted Information on possible detention of Friedman, who says Friedman is at home and has nothing to do with the story of his detention in London.