Russia has sold 10% of its stake in the country’s universal bank, VTB Group, for $3.3 billion, Financial Times reports. The sale is the first major deal in a three-year program to raise $34 billion to help plug a budget gap and lessen the government’s role in the economy, adds Bloomberg. Italian insurer, Assicurazioni Generali, acquired $300 million of shares to become a strategic partner of the bank and U.S. buyout firm, TPG capital, bought $100 million of shares. The sale was managed by Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and VTB Capital.
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