OREANDA-NEWS. URSA Bank has announced that the private equity Russian New Growth Fund, under management of Troika Capital Partners, has entered the Bank’s shareholder base. The fund acquired 7.94% of the bank’s ordinary shares  from the SM Group.

URSA Bank has been working in successful cooperation with Troika Dialog Group for some time. In 2006 and 2007 the Troika Dialog acted as the lead manager of two of the bank’s issues of preferred shares, as a result of which the URSA Bank gained $488m in capital.

Ruben Vardanian, the Chairman of the Board of directors at Troika Dialog Group, has occupied the post of independent director at URSA Bank since 12 April 2007.

“For us the deal is, above all, an opportunity to strengthen our shareholder base. This will further manifest additional competence and expert evaluation of the bank’s work by foreign investors. Now is the time to increase effectiveness and we are diligently working towards that: we are reducing expenses, we are optimizing business processes, structure and personnel, and strengthening the synergy arising as a result of the unification of the banks”, remarked Igor Kim, the Chairman of the Board of directors, URSA Bank.

“Troika Dialog was the first investment bank that started working with URSA Bank when few investors had heard about this regional bank. URSA Bank is now one of the most successful banks in Russia”, Ruben Vardanian said. “URSA Bank profitably marks out one of the fastest rates of growth in the Russian banking industry, exceptionally strong positions in the regions and a place amongst the top ten banks working in the field of commercial credit facilities. The purchase of its shares by the Russia New Growth Fund is a new landmark in the history of the bank’s development”.

The acquisition of URSA Bank’s shares by the fund, the investors of which are companies with impeccable reputations and extensive experience in Russia, such as Temasek, AXA AM, LGT and UBS Pactual, displays the correctness of the course taken for the creation of an open, transparent company which conducts successful business.