Vedomosti (Moscow) - April 18, 2006

Financier Yevgeny Bernshtam has found a strategic partner for the mortgage broker Fosbourne Home. To buy the blocking stake in this company, not only is the information group RBC paying $1.6m, but also, according to Bernshtam's plans, it is going to help promote mortgage products to the public.

The Central Bank's data show that the volume of loans issued to Russians for housing purchases grew by 2.3 times to RUR125.7bn in 2005. The volume of mortgage loans alone almost tripled from RUR17.8bn to RUR52.8bn.

Mortgage broker Fosbourne Home entered the market six months ago. Back then, Yevgeny Bernshtam, its owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors, spoke of plans to launch a "comprehensive partnership program with creditor banks, real estate developers, realtors, insurers, and appraisers" all centered on Fosbourne Home, which would provide intermediary services to individuals. Initial investment was planned at $3m (with more than $1m for IT). According to Bernshtam, Fosbourne Home's objective was, from the moment a client first thought of improving his housing conditions, to take all his or her problems and solve them. To put this idea to work, Bernshtam decided to involve mass media as a partner. RBC Information Systems will acquire 26 percent of Fosbourne Home's shareholding capital for $1.6m, Bernshtam revealed. The plan is to have the deal closed within a month.

This partnership will not only help Fosbourne Home raise investment, but will also provide a way to further promote its products, Bernshtam explained, adding that "the Internet is the cheapest channel for marketing financial services, and RBC is not only a themed website, but also, to our mind, the most frequently visited one." "We believe that our costs will pay off fairly soon, in two and a half years maximum, if not sooner," said RBC's General Director Yury Rovensky. His company's decision is to a certain extent politically motivated. "The development of mortgage is a top priority national project, and we consider it important to explain the subtleties of this product to our target audience," Rovensky said.

"More than 30 percent of mortgage deals are made with the help of mortgage brokers worldwide," the company's partner, Creditconsulting credit broker Yury Istomin, thus explained the prospects of the market. "The size of deals is of utmost importance to a loan broker, because his earnings depend on it," said BTA Ipoteka General Director Alexander Chernyak. "So it is important that the clients know about the company." Promoting a company's services in the mass media is essential. "From this point of view, the deal is very fortunate," Chernyak believes. "This is an interesting partnership," Istomin agrees, noting that it is vital for a credit broker to be independent from any financial group: "This is why they are very lucky to have a media company as shareholder." This business is only beginning to develop in Russia, and it is valued taking into account its growth potential, says Managing Director of Delta Private Equity Partners Kirill Dmitriyev. According to him, "If you take this into consideration, the company may be considered adequately valued."