MOSCOW/JOHANNESBURG - (Reuters) - Russia's No. 2 investment bank, Troika Dialog, is in talks to sell a 30 percent stake in itself to South Africa's Standard Bank through a new share issue, a business daily reported on Wednesday. Vedomosti quoted an unnamed investment banker as saying Standard Bank was currently conducting due diligence of the Russian company and has valued the stake at $150-200 million. Troika needs the money to refinance debt. Gor Nakhapetyan, Troika's managing director, declined to comment. A source close to Troika's top managers confirmed talks had been held. "This way of development looks reasonable and we can't rule out anything," the source, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, adding that talks could produce an outcome no earlier than the end of February. The Vedomosti story did not say whether Troika would be sold entirely. In addition to the investment banking business, Troika pioneered the retail mutual fund market and has a large asset management business. Standard Bank, Africa's biggest bank by assets, declined to comment on the report but reiterated its interest in Russia, where it already runs a corporate and investment banking business. "Russia is an important strategic market for us ... and as with all key markets, we continuously assess our position including considering acquisition or growth opportunities," Erik L*****n, a Standard Bank spokesman said in an emailed response. Standard Bank, 20 percent owned by China's biggest lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), has been expanding in emerging markets such as Argentina and Nigeria. South African banks have escaped the worst of the global banking crisis thanks in part to exchange controls, and some analysts say now could be a good time to put cash to work by buying relatively cheap assets abroad. Russian investment banks have been severely hit by a market collapse as the global economic crisis freezes demand for investment banking products such as IPOs and debt issues, which had been extremely profitable during the economic boom. Renaissance Capital, Troika's biggest peer, sold a 50 percent stake in itself to Russian metals and banking tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov last September for $500 million. Another peer, KIT Finance, which sparked a crisis of confidence among Russian brokers by failing to meet obligations on a share repurchase deal, was effectively bailed out by the state in a takeover by the state railway and diamond monopolies. At the time, Troika's core owner, Ruben Vardanyan, denied he was in talks to sell his bank.
