MDM Founders Drifted Apart

Founders of MDM Group, Andrey Melnichenko and Sergey Popov have split the assets. Melnichenko obtained 100 percent in Eurokhim fertilizers’ maker, while Popov got 90 percent in MDM Bank. Top manager of the bank, Martin Andersson acquired 10 percent. Now, the sole common undertaking of Melnichenko and Popov is SUEK coal company, where its General Director Vladimir Rashevsky is a minority holder.
Andrey Melnichenko and Sergey Popov swapped the stakes in MDM Bank and Eurokhim, which they had owned on parity basis, their spokesmen said in the statement describing the split of the former MDM Group.

In the end, Melnichenko obtained 100 percent in Eurokhim and Popov got 90 percent in MDM Bank. The remaining 10 percent in the bank went to its top manager Martin Andersson.

Even though the parties have disclosed neither the deal budget nor its structure, a source close to them said the great amount of money was involved. Andersson had to pay for his stake to Melnichenko. More likely than not, Melnichenko himself had to pay in addition to Popov.

In view of significant corporate business of MDM Bank, its worth could be three times as much as the bank’s equity, which amounted to around $1 billion as of late September under IAS. So, 50 percent in MDM Bank could have cost roughly $1.5 billion. The UBS evaluation of Eurokhim that the latter promulgated two weeks ago specified €3.5 billion (around $4.6 billion), so Melnichenko probably paid $800 million in addition.