OREANDA-NEWS. September 3, 2012. Otkritie Financial Corporation has taken a decision to continue consolidating financial assets as it pursues its strategy of building a universal financial group that offers private, corporate and institutional clients the full spectrum of financial services.

In the next three years the company intends to become Russia’s largest independent and publicly-traded financial group.

In order to achieve these aims Otkritie Financial Corporation plans over the coming two years to consolidate up to 100% of the shares in Nomos Bank.

Agreements to this effect have already been reached with the owners of 58.5% of Nomos Bank shares.

Provided the stages of consolidation of Nomos Bank shares planned for this year are completed as anticipated, all Nomos Bank minority shareholders will be issued a buy-out offer for their shares no later than the end of 2012. The price in rubles per share will be set based on the official exchange rate on the day the offer is announced and will be no less than USD 14 per GDR, taking into consideration applicable regulations.

The multi-staged approach to consolidating Nomos Bank shares by Otkritie Financial Corporation is due to the need to comply with regulatory requirements and limitations in international jurisdictions where Otkritie and Nomos do business, including Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and European Union countries.

After Nomos Bank has been incorporated into Otkritie Financial Corporation the consolidated assets of the Financial Corporation will exceed 1 trillion rubles, including 850 billion rubles in banking assets. The total client base will exceed 3 million individuals and 120,000 corporate entities. The aggregate trading turnover of the Financial Corporation’s brokerage business exceeded 55 trillion rubles in 2011.

Upon completion of the consolidation of Nomos Bank shares by Otkritie Financial Corporation the distribution of shares among major shareholders will be as follows: Vadim Belyaev and the Otkritie management team will control up to 25% of shares; stakes of up to 10% will be owned by companies affiliated with ICT Group shareholders, by VTB Group, by Boris Mints and by Alexander Mamut.

Discussions are currently underway with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on exchanging its shares in Otkritie Bank for those of Otkritie Financial Corporation. New major Russian and international investors will be brought in, including as part of an initial public offering of Otkritie Financial Corporation planned for within the next 2-3 years.

“We have always believed in the universal financial corporation in which private, corporate and institutional clients are able to access the full range of banking, investment, insurance and pension services. The scale of Nomos Bank’s business and the diversified structure of Otkritie Financial Corporation represent an ideal combination for building such a business model,” said Vadim Belyaev, Chief Executive Officer of Otkritie Financial Corporation. “Moreover, we believe that a financial business of this scale should be as independent as possible and have a diversified shareholder base.”