EBRD sold shares of Moscow Exchange Softline with a discount of 60% and an exit tax of 20% – Kommersant

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) sold a 5.3% stake in the capital of the Moscow Exchange to the Softline group of companies, sources said Forbes. According to the publication, a subcommittee of the government commission for control of foreign investment approved the deal at a discount of 60% and an exit tax of 20% of the transaction amount.

As a Forbes source notes, the average discount for organizations that exit Russian assets is 50%. Representatives of the EBRD and Softline refrained from commenting.

The EBRD entered the capital of the Moscow Exchange in 2012 and until recently remained the largest foreign shareholder. As of April 2023, he owned 120,472,902 shares (5.3%). At 15:00 on October 20, the value of the package was 22.76 billion rubles. Taking into account the discount, the price of the stake is 9.1 billion rubles, and the exit tax is 1.82 billion rubles. Thus, the bank could receive 7.28 billion rubles as part of the transaction. ($76.3 million at the Central Bank exchange rate as of October 20).

A Forbes source said the deal “reflects the reality for foreign investors in terms of asset liquidity.” “Assets can be high-quality, growing, profitable, leaders in their markets, but due to regulations, their sale is accompanied by such deductions,” said the source of the publication.

The EBRD suspended investments in Russian assets in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea. In May 2022 the bank statedthat he intends to exit Russian assets “as soon as possible.” Russia joined the EBRD in 1992, the capital contribution amounted to $1.2 billion. In April 2022, the EBRD froze Russia’s access to the bank’s resources and closed its offices in Moscow. Russia, however, remains a shareholder of the EBRD.

In December 2022, the government commission on foreign investment determined conditions, which must comply with a transaction for the sale of Russian businesses by companies from “unfriendly countries”. The gratuitous payment from the transaction must be at least 5% of the market value of the business if the discount on sale is less than 90%, and at least 10% of the market value if the discount exceeds 90%. In addition, investors from “unfriendly” countries must provide at least a 50% discount when exiting Russian assets.

Leonid Uvarchev