As Biznes has learned, Yevgeny Bernshtam, a well-known financier and businessman, and RBC Information Systems have entered into a partnership with regard to Fosbourne Home, a mortgage brokerage company set up by Bernshtam. RBC is to disburse $1.56m for 26 percent in Fosbourne. A year and a half ago, Yevgeny Bernshtam, formerly employed by Alfa Bank and Uralsib, established a company specializing in bad debt collection, Sequoia Credit Consolidation. Then, in late 2005, Bernshtam announced the launch of Russia's first mortgage broker, Fosbourne Home. The brokerage company proposes to negotiate loans worth $240m this year, $700m next year, and $2.05bn in 2008.

According to a Biznes information source, to achieve these targets and promote information about their mortgage brokerage activities, Bernshtam thought partnership with a media holding appropriate for the project. Today, Fosbourne is to announce the sale of 26 percent of its capital to RBC Information Systems for $1.56m, with an entity affiliated with Bernshtam acting as the seller. Based on the stake's value, the entire Fosbourne has been estimated at around $6.25m. Yevgeny Bernshtam confirmed the figure yesterday. "RBC is an excellent channel to promote mortgage lending, and a convenient partner," he said. In turn, RBC's General Director Yury Rovensky stated that the Group had decided to participate in a new business it hadn't dealt with so far (at this point, RBC includes a business TV channel, a news agency, electronic newspapers, a monthly business magazine, and a number of Internet resources) after having studied similar activities of foreign companies. He explained that both Bloomberg and the German Deutsche Welle both had service subsidiaries operating in the financial services segment. Therefore, Rovensky does not think the price for the Fosbourne stake was overstated. "The estimate of over $6m included contracts Fosbourne Home had entered into, and the year's prospects," he said. According to Bernshtam, the price was determined in the course of negotiations, and on the strength of a due diligence.

RBC is not Russia's first media holding sprouting financial services companies. For instance, Interfax, AK&M and Expert are running their own rating agencies, while Interfax together with Experian established a credit bureau, Experian-Interfax. "Any information agency makes money on its news, market data and fundamental data," Vladimir Gerasimov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Experian-Interfax, said when asked to comment on the deal. "If we look at our business, the financial market we provide our news to now accounts for more than half of our turnover. In this respect, a credit bureau is a consistent part of an information holding."

"The alliance of Fosbourne Home and RBC is shrewd marketing," Dmitry Balkovsky, General Director of Independent Mortgage Bureau, believes. However, the partners are hardly likely to grab a major share of the mortgage brokerage market. "Mortgage lending is a young market, and there is room for a dozen more such companies," he explained.