Italy's largest bank by assets, UniCredit is on the verge of announcing the sale of ATF Bank. ATF Bank is its Kazakhstan unit and the sale was confirmed by three sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The announcement would not provide details as to the price when it presents the sale on Friday in a formal announcement. The purchaser of ATF is reportedly Kazakh tycoon Galimzan Yesenov at rumored price of US$500 million.
Unicredit declined to make any comment on the reported deal.
The sources further reported that UniCredit may have to absorb half of ATF's nonperforming loans. This comes after the Italian bank has been decreasing its exposure in Central and Eastern Europe by laying off workers and closing branches. It has also been on a selling spree, hoping to recoup some of its losses due to the Euro Zone debt crisis. The sale of the Kazakh bank was in the works since December 2012.
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