MOSCOW, April 12 Reuters MTS Bank, the fintech arm of Russia39;s leading mobile phone operator MTS, announced on Friday it would hold an initial public offering IPO, a rare occurrence for Russian banks hit with Western sanctions.

MTS Bank will be only the second Russian bank to hold an IPO since the West imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow over its decision to send tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

In early April the Russian Central Bank registered an additional issue of 7.187 million MTS Bank ordinary shares with a par value of 500 roubles each. That was up 19.3 of the bank39;s increased authorised capital.

The funds raised in the IPO will be used by the bank to implement its growth strategy and further scale its highmargin retail business, the bank said in a statement.

The majority shareholder, MTS, does not plan to sell its shares and will retain a majority stake in the bank39;s capital.

Four sources close to the matter told Reuters in February that MTS Bank planned to launch an initial public offering in the spring and could raise up to 15 billion roubles 160.3 million.

MTS Bank, subject to Western sanctions, earned a record net profit of 12.5 billion roubles in 2023.

MTS Bank39;s IPO is the second bank public offering in Russia since 2022 following Sovcombank39;s IPO in 2023.

1 93.5400 roubles

Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya Writing by Maxim Rodionov Editing by Andrew Osborn

Source Reuters