VTB Capital buys minority stake in major European software developer

By Andrei Skvarsky

VTB Capital has bought a minority stake in EPAM Systems, a leading provider of outsourcing software engineering services in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia.

The Russian bank's buying into EPAM, a US-headquartered firm more than 90% of whose personnel are based in Russia and Belarus, “is another step in implementing VTB Capital’s strategy of boosting asset management business by investing in private companies”, according to  VTB Capital chief executive Yury Solovyov.

VTB Capital did not disclose the size of the stake or the sum the bank paid for it.

Russia Partners, one of the largest private equity firms in Russia and the CIS, is the main shareholder in EPAM, whose customers have included Microsoft, London Stock Exchange, Thomson Reuters, British Telecom, Renaissance Capital, Philips, and number-one global oilfield services provider Schlumberger.

By Andrei Skvarsky VTB Capital has bought a minority stake in EPAM Systems, a leading provider of outsourcing software engineering services in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. The Russian bank's buying into EPAM, a US-headquartered firm more than 90% of whose personnel are based in Russia and Belarus, “is another step in implementing VTB Capital’s ...