UPDATE 3-Russian tycoon report moves European banks' stocks
(Rewrites, adds new report, Nafta comment, updates shares)
MOSCOW, June 11 (Reuters) - A report that Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov is interested in buying stakes in major European banks and wants other tycoons to join him briefly lifted shares in several major European banks on Wednesday.
Kommersant business daily, quoting sources, said Kerimov has been selling his Russian assets, including stakes in the country's biggest bank Sberbank (SBER03.MM) and gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM), to buy shares in Deutsche (DBKGn.DE), UBS (UBSN.VX), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX).
Shares in Deutsche and UBS rose by 2 percent on the report but later fell back along with other financial stocks. Deutsche closed 1.3 down, UBS fell 3.8 percent and Credit Suisse 0.6 percent. The DJ Stoxx bank index .SX7P weakened 2.8 percent.
One source in a major investment bank told Kommersant that Kerimov, Russia's eighth-richest man and a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament, owned 3 percent of Deutsche at the end of last year.
"Kerimov now continues to increase his stake in Deutsche Bank and plans to take it to 9 percent," a source familiar with Kerimov's plans told Kommersant. Other sources said Kerimov's holdings in other banks amounted to about 1 percent.
Deutsche Bank said it was aware of only two shareholders with stakes of more than 3 percent, British bank Barclays and French insurer AXA. The spokesman declined further comment on the report.
A Deutsche spokesman in Moscow said the bank was obliged to disclose when someone buys more than 3 percent of the shares. "We have not made such disclosures," he said.
One news report quoted an official close to Kerimov's investment vehicle, Nafta Moskva, denying the Kommersant report and saying Kerimov had no plans to own 9 percent of Deutsche Bank, and nor had he sold Gazprom and Sberbank shares.
A senior executive at Nafta Moskva dismissed this report, however, and said the firm would not comment on the issue. Another person close to Nafta said Kerimov was a passive shareholder in Nafta and did not take operational decisions.
OTHER TYCOONS
Kommersant sources said Kerimov was discussing plans to buy stakes in Western banks with other tycoons.
Top Russian officials recently called on businessmen to buy Western assets, which have been losing value due to turbulence in financial markets.
Oil-rich Russia does not yet have its own sovereign wealth fund capable of large-scale private equity investment. However, tycoons who made fortunes during hasty privatisations in the 90s, often act with Kremlin blessing. Continued...
