Russia’s Sberbank reportedly selling LafargeHolcim stake

Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, is selling a stake in Swiss cement business LafargeHolcim Ltd valued at about CHF1.5bn (about US$1.5bn), Bloomberg reported late Wednesday, citing a termsheet.

UBS Group AG is sole bookrunner on the sale of 37.2m shares, the terms showed. Sberbank acquired a 6.12 per cent stake in LafargeHolcim in January from Eurocement Holding AG as part of a repurchase agreement, making the Russian lender the third-largest stakeholder.

Sberbank and Eurocement signed a cooperation agreement in 2014 to help fund construction of cement manufacturing plants in Russia. The agreement also enabled the two companies to cooperate on a range of issues from settlement and cash services to investment banking activities.