Shareholder Secures Power Over Company Operating "Tochka" Bank
T-Technologies secures control over Catalytic People, a stakeholder in Point Bank
T-Technologies has announced the acquisition of a 50.01% stake in JSC Catalytic People, giving the company a controlling interest in the entity. Catalytic People, in turn, holds a 64% stake in PJSC Point, one of the leading digital services for entrepreneurs in the country.
With this acquisition, T-Technologies will have significant influence over Point Bank, though the effective control will be slightly less than full, due to the ownership structure. The deal marks an expansion of T-Technologies' digital banking ecosystem.
T-Technologies had already invested in Catalytic People as part of the Rosbank integration deal. Ilya Pismensky, the financial director of T-Technologies, stated that the acquisition was not accompanied by additional capital expenditure, as it was classified as a capital deal during the Rosbank integration in the third quarter of last year.
Point Bank will continue to operate independently, with its current management team in place. Collaborative projects focusing on serving small and medium-sized businesses, particularly in the provision of modern credit services, will continue between T-Technologies' affiliated companies and Point. T-Bank may boost Point's expertise in lending to legal entities, while Point may enhance T-Bank's capability in non-financial services.
T-Technologies emphasized that it intends to maintain a hands-off approach towards Point's operations, similar to the strategy employed when Point was owned by Rosbank. Pismensky mentioned that there are no imminent plans for a merger between the companies.
Both Point Bank's and T-Technologies' shareholders retain their positions, with the bank's shareholders including VK and 1C, among others.
Experts have pointed out the growing trend of neobanks and digital banks replacing traditional banks, owing to their modern IT solutions, agility, and lack of cumbersome infrastructure. Notable examples of neobanks in Russia are T-Bank, Modulbank, Rocketbank, TouchBank, and TalkBank. Digital banks like Contour Bank and "Tochka" bank operate on a "bank-as-a-service" principle, hosting multiple neobanks created by fintech developers.
T-Bank, in a separate development, has plans to establish two branches in China - in Shanghai and Xi'an - to facilitate transactions between Russia and China. Currently, only one foreign branch of a Russian bank, VTB, operates in China.
T-Technologies' acquisition of a majority stake in Catalytic People, coupled with Catalytic People's substantial ownership in Point Bank, positions T-Technologies to exert considerable influence over Point Bank's operations, albeit not a full control due to the existing ownership structure. In the financial industry, this move represents an expansion of T-Technologies' digital banking business.
