It is easy to undertsand why Russian businessman and State Duma member from the LDPR Suleiman Kerimov is investing in Western financial assets. Their value has plummeted since the financial crisis began.
Photo: Valery Levitin
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Kerimov Invests in Western Banks
The Wall Street Journal reports that Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov plans to invest up to &euro400; million in the stock of Europe’s largest financial group, the Belgian-Dutch Fortis NV. This is part of general expansion of the businessman’s holdings in Western banks, whose stock has lost 41-58 percent of its worth in the financial crisis. The deal will be carried out through Kerimov’s Swiss investment firm Millennium Group. Fortis announced a stock issue of about ˆ1.5 billion last week. According to the WSJ, Fortis invited Millennium to participate in the issue and it agreed to at the price of ˆ10 per share.
The WSJ writes that Millennium already owns 2 percent of Fortis. Chairman of Fortis Count Maurice Lippens told a Belgian newspaper that representatives of Merrill Lynch introduced him to Kerimov. Merrill Lynch is organizing the stock issue.
Kerimov has been buying into Western financial institutions all year. He has acquired up to 3 percent of Deutsche Bank AG and packages in Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse Group. Millennium also participated in the Royal Bank of Scotland stock sale and purchased shares worth ˆ700 million in the bank. Sources say Kerimov has been selling Russian assets, particularly shares in Sberbank, to finance his European purchases. His share in Sberbank has fallen from 6+ percent to about 2 percent.
Other Russian businessmen are following Kerimov’s example, observers say. Since August 2007, the price of Fortis shares has fallen by 57.63 percent. Deutsche Bank has fallen by 45.95 percent, Morgan Stanley by 43.61 percent and Credit Suisse by 41.86 percent.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 01, 2008
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