MOSCOW (Reuters) – U.S.-listed Freedom Holding Corp, a financial services firm focused on East Europe and Central Asia, is to separate its Russian business from the main company, Freedom Holding Corp said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the company said it would sell a 100% stake in Freedom Finance’s Russian business to Maxim Povalishin, one of Freedom Finance’s founders, who will then rebrand the Russian company. It said the transaction would be worth around $140 million.
Freedom Holding Corp, listed on Nasdaq in 2019, has banks in Russia and Kazakhstan. With headquarters in the Kazakh city of Almaty, its unit Freedom Finance is one of Russia’s 10 largest brokerage firms. Freedom Finance has offices in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and a branch office in Germany.
Hundreds of Western businesses have pulled out of Russia since it sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, sparking unprecedented sanctions against Russia that have hammered its economy.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Potter)