The American-British consortium GBM Holdings has acquired the British division of one of the largest Russian brokerage companies BCS Prime Brokerage Ltd. This is reported in the GBM press release.
Gerald Banks, who previously worked as a top manager in companies owned by Russian tycoon Vladimir Potanin, acquired a large stake in BCS Prime, replacing the owner of the Russian parent company Oleg Mikhasenko.
Western sanctions imposed in 2022 had a serious negative impact on the British business of Russian financial companies. In particular, the divisions of the state-owned banks of Sberbank PJSC and VTB Bank PJSC were forced to cease their activities, and the business model of BCS Prime Brokerage, aimed at assisting foreign investors in trading Russian stocks and bonds, was changed.
BCS Prime Brokerage will operate under the new GBM Securities brand, focused on emerging and frontier markets. The company will provide primary brokerage services, which include lending to hedge funds to finance transactions, as well as searching for buyers and sellers of securities.
A few days before the takeover, BCS Prime Brokerage paid a special dividend of $27.5 million.
Gerald Banks previously held a number of senior positions in companies associated with V. Potanin, in particular, in PJSC Rosbank and Interros Holding Co.
At the end of 2023, FG BCS decided to sell 90.1% of the British subsidiary of BCS Prime Brokerage to a third-party investor and refocus on the international business and exit the Russian business of the BCS group. At the end of January 2024, the Russian BCS Holding was separated from the structures of the international financial group FG BCS, registered in Cyprus.
Altpoint Capital Partners LLC is a New York–based private equity fund in which Potanin was the largest investor. In 2019, Altpoint registered stakes in more than 12 companies, including Ford Models Inc.
BCS Prime Brokerage Ltd is a British subsidiary of FG BCS Ltd., which owns 100% of the shares of BCS UK. BCS Prime is a financial regulatory company in the UK to provide investment banking services to professional investors.
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