OREANDA-NEWS. Sberbank has confirmed reports that it intends to redeem a minority stake in Mail.ru from Gazprombank. The bank said in a statement that it “shares and supports the strategy” of Mail.ru Group. Sberbank intends to sign an agreement on the purchase of a stake by the end of 2019.

Earlier, Sberbank plans to acquire part of Mail.ru Group from Gazprombank, according to American media, citing sources. Gazprombank owns an indirect stake in Mail.ru Group - it owns 35% of MF Technologies, and this company, in turn, owns 11.5 million Class A shares, which provide 58.87% of the vote. Thus, Gazprombank accounts for about 20% of the voting shares.

In August, Sberbank already bought a 46.5% stake in Rambler Group, as a result of which the top management of the bank got seats on the company's board. German Gref explained the deal by the fact that it will enrich the digital ecosystem of Sberbank, and the purpose of the investment is to develop the leader of the Russian media and entertainment market.