Baring Vostok fulfills order to sell 9.99% in Orient Express Bank

MOSCOW, Jun 19 (PRIME) -- Subsidiaries of investment fund Baring Vostok have complied with a court order and fulfilled an option to sell a 9.99% stake in Orient Express Bank to Finvision company of businessman Artyom Avetisyan, a representative of the fund told PRIME late on Tuesday.

“We wrote off the shares under the execution writ,” the spokesperson said.

In February, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow arrested businessman Michael Calvey, founder of Baring Vostok, and five other defendants for two months over alleged 2.5 billion ruble embezzlement from Orient Express Bank. In April, Calvey was released under house arrest, and it was prolonged until July 14.

Investigators believe that Calvey, his partner Phillippe Delpal, and several other unidentified managers convinced shareholders of Orient Express Bank to vote for a compensation agreement to receive a 59.9% in International Financial Technology Group instead of money. The shares were valued at 3 billion rubles under the deal, while their real value amounted to 600,000 rubles.

On May 17, the Arbitration Court of the Amur Region ordered Evison Holdings Limited, which represents interests of fund Baring Vostok, to fulfill a 2016 call option and to sell the 9.99% stake in Orient Express Bank to Avetisyan’s Finvision Holdings. Following the option, Baring’s stake in the bank shrank to 41.63%, while Avetisyan’s stake rose to 42.01%.

(64.3352 rubles – U.S. $1)

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