S&P: Gazprombank unaffected

Standard & Poor's said its ratings and outlook on Gazprombank (BB-/positive/B) remain unchanged following the announcement that the bank's board approved an additional 6.67 million share issue, which will be sold to Dresdner Bank AG (A/stable/A-1) for a minimum of RUR 23.2 billion.

The agency noted this would dilute the share of Gazprombank's main shareholder, OAO Gazprom (Gazprom, BB/positive), from 100% to 67%.

A primary rating factor for Gazprombank is its close links to Gazprom, which the agency said it considers will persist after this transaction as Gazprom remains a controlling owner of the bank.

S&P said it therefore expects that Gazprombank will continue to be a strategically important subsidiary of the Gazprom group, with a strong likelihood to receive explicit financial support if needed.

Should the diversification in Gazprombank's ownership structure alter its strategically important group status within the Gazprom group in the medium term, this could lead to a revision of the ratings on the bank, the agency added.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.