By Adria Calatayud
Italy's UniCredit said it reached a preliminary agreement to sell part of its Russian subsidiary to a private investor in the United Arab Emirates for an undisclosed sum.
The bank said Thursday that the deal will result in a profit hit of between 3 billion and 3.3 billion euros ($3.52 billion-$3.88 billion) and a benefit to its capital position. The deal won't affect its shareholder-distribution plans or its long-term profit ambitions, it said.
The Italian lender, which is among the few European banks with a sizable exposure to Russia, kept its business in the country after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine but committed to shrink its presence there.
UniCredit, which didn't name the buyer, said the deal will help refocus its operations in Russia mainly on international payments for Western and nonsactioned Russian corporate clients.
Under the deal, UniCredit's Russian subsidiary AO Bank would spin off part of its activities, which UniCredit would keep, and sell its remaining operations to the U.A.E. buyer, the bank said. Both parties will cooperate to finalize the transaction structure, UniCredit said.
UniCredit said the agreement it signed was nonbinding, and that completion of the transaction is subject to the signing of binding documentation, implementation of the spinoff and regulatory approvals.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-07-26 0256ET
