Raffeisen Bank International’s (RBI’s) Russian subsidiary has sold its pension fund business to Russian BIN Group for an undisclosed sum.
The two firms signed a share purchase agreement in June. The transaction is expected to mean a one-off gain of around €87 million, before tax, and to reduce RBI’s risk-weighted assets by €327 million.
The fund, ZAO NPF Raiffeisen, has become a top-20 Russian non-state pension fund since it was founded in 2004.
As of 30 June, it had about €550 million in assets under management, with its asset base quadrupling over the last three years. It now managed more than 250,000 pension accounts for both private and corporate customers.
When the agreement was signed, Sergey Monin, chairman of the managing board of Raiffeisenbank, said: “As a seller, we prefer to see the BIN Group and its shareholders as our successor in the further development of ZAO NPF Raiffeisen since they have earned the reputation of a reliable and professional participant of the Russian pension market.”
Mikhail Shishhanov, co-owner of BIN Group, added: “I am convinced that pension market reforms in Russia will lead to a balanced system that will involve non-government pension funds. That is why further expansion on the pension market is a strategic priority for the BIN Group.”
The decision is part of RBI’s wider strategy to reduce risk-weighted assets and to focus more on its core business, which is in turn a response to more consolidation in the sector.
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