Freedom Holding Corp. asked Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service for permission to acquire a 100% stake in Russian investment company Zerich Capital Management, RBC reported Sept. 27.
Freedom Holding Corp. CEO Timur Turlov said the company is considering the possibility of buying Zerich Capital Management, which it perceives as an attractive asset. However, a purchase agreement has not yet been signed, and the deal is at the stage of discussions between the companies. The request with the Russian competition regulator was filed at the mutual agreement of both companies, but no binding decisions have been taken regarding the potential deal.
Operating under the Freedom Finance brand, Freedom Holding is a brokerage company active in Russia and Kazakhstan, as well as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.
Zerich Capital Management is one of the oldest brokerage firms in Russia. Its assets stood at 1.7 billion Russian rubles in 2018, while the company's net profit for the year amounted to 2 million rubles.
As of Sept. 27, US$1 was equivalent to 64.37 Russian rubles.
