FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International, one of the banks in Europe most exposed to Russia, said on Tuesday that it will take a nearly 28% stake in Austrian construction group Strabag.
The bank said it would acquire the shares via its Russian subsidiary for a cash consideration of 1.510 billion euros ($1.66 billion).
“With this transaction, RBI further reduces its exposure to Russia,” RBI said.
RBI had been studying a spin-off or sale for its business in the country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, warning that an exit may take some time and as the European Central Bank had kept up pressure on banks to loosen ties with Russia.
The bank said it would continue to work on a sale or a spin-off as a fall-back.
($1 = 0.9112 euros)
(Reporting by Tom Sims; editing by David Evans)
