The banking group TCS, which operates Russia’s only pure online bank Tinkoff, is considering buying Tockha fintech service for small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs for RUB 20 billion (317 million dollars), Kommersant reported daily citing unnamed banking sources.
The potential agreement shows that the fintech market i Russia maintains enough momentum despite the fallout from the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, Tochka appears to have gained value ahead of the sale.
Tochka offers one-stop-shop online financial services to over 0.5 million SMEs and entrepreneurs. It was founded in 2018 as a joint venture with e-payment system Qiwi (50%), Otkritie Bank (40%), with a further 10% minus 1 share retained by Tochka’s management led by Boris Diakonov and Eduard Panteleev.
IN September 2021 uneasy Qiwi lost its online gaming revenue stream and sold its 40% stake in Tochka to Otkritie for RUB5 billionwith the entire business valued at RUB11 billion. IN March 2022 Otkrytie sold 90% of the shares to state-controlled companies Trust Bank.
Trust Banka “bad” asset bank bailed out of Central Bank of Russia (CBR) in its 2019 banking sector cleanup, is now reportedly putting Tochka up for sale for double the valuation it bought the fintech runner-up for.
Kommersant sources claim that Tinkoff Banka large consumer credit bank that has avoided Western sanctions is considering buying Tochka from RUB 20 billion. Tochka representatives confirmed to Kommersant that “the key shareholder… is considering the possibility of selling to large financial industrial groups from the top 100”.
Analysts and lawyers surveyed by Kommersant believes that TCS will have to approach the minority shareholders with a buyout offer. Regarded as one of the best Russian fintech projects, Tochka shows an example of how an asset can actually grow in value under sanctions.
The synergies between Tochka and Tinkoff Bank look logical to analysts, with comparable SME banking market share and range of digital fintech services.
To recall, the erstwhile investor darling TCS was recently picked up by the sanctioned oligarch Vladimir Potanin, who is rebuilding his banking empire. The bank remains one of the major Russian consumer lenders that remains unsanctioned.
After TCS founder Oleg Tinkov published a scathing critique of the “mad war” in Ukraine on its social media, Tinkoff Bank immediately distanced itself from its founder and Tinkov was forced to sell the banking group to Potanin.
Most recently, Tinkov said he will compete and try to remember the Tinkoff brand after renouncing his Russian citizenship. But TCS shrugged off threats from its founder and posted strong results for 9M22.
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