Sberbank is acquiring VBI for €585 million, Reuters reports. The East European arm of Oesterreichische Volksbanken is 51 percent-owned by the Austrian lender. France’s Banque Populaire Caisse d’Epargne and Germany’s DZ Bank/WGZ Bank each hold 24.5 percent. The move is aimed at securing a platform for the Russian bank to expand into Europe. The sale will also help Volksbanken to pay back state aid it got from the Austrian government during the financial crisis.
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