Acting for

Severgroup, Goltsblat BLP, the Russian practice of international

law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), advised on sale to PAO Sovcombank of a 100% shareholding in AO

Metcombank, the biggest commercial bank in the Volgograd Region and a leader on

the Russian car lending market.

This September,

Sovcombank's application to acquire 100% of Metcombank was cleared by the

Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). In late August, Sovcombank advised

that Severgroup and Sovcombank would close the Metcombank acquisition by the

end of the third quarter of 2016, once the requisite regulatory approvals were granted.

On 7 October 2016, Severgroup and Sovcombank announced that the approvals had

been issued and the transaction closed successfully.

The Goltsblat

BLP project team was headed by Сorporate

and M&A partner Ekaterina Dedova and included: Matvey Kaploukhiy, Corporate/ M&A partner, Tatiana Parshak, Banking and Finance Head of Group, and Dmitry Sheludyaev, Corporate/ M&A

Associate.

Founded in 1993 as a private investment company,

Severgroup includes ZAO Severgroup and OOO Capital. The Group makes long-term

investments and manages assets on behalf of Alexey Mordashov.

PAO Sovcombank is a universal bank ranked 20th in

Russia in terms of assets (RUB 522 bn). In 2015, the Bank's IFRS-reported

profit totalled RUB 19 bn.

AO Metcombank, the biggest bank in the Volgograd

Region, was founded in 1990 and has established partner relations with AvtoVAZ,

OOO Lifan Motors Rus and ZAO GM-Avtovaz. At the end of 2014, it was named a

top-10 Russian bank in terms of the volume and number of car loans issued. It

also participates in the government support programme for concessional auto

lending.