Barclays boosted by Russian deal

Mar 4 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal

BANKING group Barclays has entered the Russian retail banking market by agreeing a deal to buy Expobank for £373m.

The Moscow-based operation, which has 32 branches across western Russia, caters for more than 250,000 customers. The acquisition is expected to go through by July this year and will result in Barclays first retail banking presence in the country.

Frits Seegers, chief executive of Barclays’ global retail and commercial banking arm, said the group had been keen to get into the Russian retail market for some time.

A spokesman for Barclays said the plan was to rebrand Expobank as Barclays after consultation with customers. This would then be followed by an expansion drive.

Expobank was founded in 1994 and now has 1,300 employees. At the end of 2007 it had net assets of £93m and was one of Russia’s top 50 banks by size of network.