Sberbank, Russia's largest state-owned lender, denied on Friday reports that it bought a major stake in the Troika Dialog investment vehicle as part of its bid to set up an investment arm.
Russia's Vedomosti business daily said on Thursday that Sberbank had agreed to buy Troika Dialog for $1.25 billion.
"The only source of information on such deals is an official news release from Sberbank," the bank's press service said.
In December, Sberbank head German Gref said the bank was seeking to diversify its business away from traditional lending and deposit operations and would launch its investment business in the first quarter of 2011 by either buying a company or setting up an investment unit on its own.
MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti)
