Billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven are ready to get rid of their shares in Alfa-Bank. The main owner of this credit institution is called one of its founders, Andrei Kosogov. Despite the fact that the current co-owner of the bank, and not an outside person or company, can become the new owner, some of the bank’s customers began to get nervous.
Desirable Deal
Alfa-Bank confirmed the preparation of a deal to sell the shares of Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven to Andrey Kosogov. Earlier media reported that Aven and Fridman had agreed to sell their shares in Alfa-Bank for $2.3 billion (178 billion rubles).
By getting rid of Russian assets, the billionaires hope to get out of the sanctions imposed against them by the European Union a few days after the start of the NWO in Ukraine.
As for the potential owner of Alfa, one of the minority shareholders Andrey Kosogov, it is known from the materials of the credit institution as of March 16 that he became the largest beneficiary with a 41% share.
A day earlier, German Khan and Alexei Kuzmichev, who were not subject to Western sanctions, withdrew from Alfa-Bank’s shareholders. Petr Aven, as before, owns 12.4%, Mikhail Fridman – 32.9%, UniCredit SpA – 9.9%, Mark Foundation for Cancer Research – 3.9%. The deal could be completed this spring.
Regulatory Consent
Nevertheless, experts believe that it will not be easy to sell shares to Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman. One of the Forbes sources said that they do not own them directly, but through a Luxembourg holding. The shares of the bank holding belonging to Fridman and Aven have been frozen because their owners are under EU sanctions. To sell them, you will need to obtain a special permit from the European Commission. In addition, the deal will first have to be coordinated with the British authorities, the Bank of Russia and the tax authorities. And getting regulatory approval in multiple jurisdictions is very difficult.
All this suggests that the sale of shares may be delayed, and with it the possible lifting of sanctions for billionaires. Financial consultant Isaac Becker believes that, of course, both Fridman and Aven want to get out of sanctions, because this situation can last for years.
But he notes – now everything is cheaper. Banks are suffering losses, the history of sanctions has caused them great damage. There is no queue of those wishing to buy 45% of Alfa-Bank. In addition, in his opinion, few people now have a complete picture of ownership of shares in the bank.
Will it affect clients?
At the same time, all that is happening, of course, could not but affect the activities of the credit institution. In early April, Alfa-Bank reported losses for the first time in 14 years. At the end of 2022, the net loss under RAS amounted to 117.1 billion rubles against 136.6 billion rubles of profit a year earlier.
Alfa-Bank CEO Vladimir Verkhoshinsky explained that in the first half of 2022, the bank recorded a one-time loss, which is due to the fact that part of its foreign currency assets was frozen. In addition, the financial results and reporting under RAS were affected by currency revaluation. According to Vladimir Verkhoshinsky, according to IFRS standards, for January and February 2023, the bank has already earned 26.1 billion rubles. At the end of 2021, the financial organization ranked 26th in the Forbes rating of Russian companies with the largest net profit.
Currently, Alfa-Bank has four brokers with which the issues of unblocking funds of trust management (DU) clients have not been resolved. In addition, the bank is trying to find new brokers to work with private investors.
Some experts, however, are optimistic about the future of the bank. According to Andrei Barkhota, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Alfa-Bank’s losses are a manifestation of a one-time effect of the realization of the risks of a deterioration in the operating environment, and do not reflect the real situation. And a certain share of the loss is provoked by external factors. Andrei Barkhota believes that Alfa-Bank is profitable and that losses may not directly affect customers. I would love to believe it.
What’s ahead
It is difficult to say whether the change of ownership in the bank affects its current activities. It is not necessary, of course, to explain everything that happens in a credit institution precisely by this reason. However, on March 18, some customers encountered problems when paying for purchases in stores. It was also reported that some Alfa-Bank ATMs were not working.
In the call center, the virtual assistant reported that some customers of the credit institution may experience problems paying for purchases in stores using a card, as well as a QR code.
The bank itself confirmed the existence of problems, saying that work is underway to eliminate them. Which was eventually done.
Some citizens, for example, complain about the recent aggressive imposition of Alfa services on thematic forums: “Alfa Bank – on what basis are you violating the law on the protection of personal data? On what basis do your employees call on Saturday and brazenly try to impose your services? But in general, there are not so many negative reviews on the work of the bank. I wonder what awaits Alfa-Bank after the change of ownership?
Yes, Andrey Kosogov has been working in Alfa Group since 1992. In 1998, after the merger of Alfa Capital and Alfa-Bank, he received an option in the group, effectively becoming its co-owner. From 1998 to 2005 – First Deputy Chairman of the Board of Alfa-Bank.
He retired from operational work in 2005, but retained his seat on the board of directors of AlfaCapitalPartners and the investment committee of Alfa-Bank.
However, despite the fact that he is not an outsider, the terms of customer service may change. Experts believe that they can affect all products – deposits, loans, mortgages, cards, cashback.
And the bank has the right to do so. For example, Alpha cards are currently free, but service fees may be introduced, including for already issued cards. It is likely that commissions may appear where they did not exist before. Therefore, it is better for customers to carefully monitor the terms of service and spend bonuses on time. Existing deposits, loans and mortgages must remain unchanged (of course, this does not apply to those contracts where the possibility of changing the rate is prescribed). But new deposits, loans and mortgages can already be issued on other conditions.
At the same time, the change of ownership should not affect the savings of citizens in any way. The maximum amount of compensation is determined by law – 1.4 million rubles, including interest on the deposit, and up to 10 million rubles in exceptional cases. In a word, wait and see.