Londongrad Dealmakers Face Sanctions Hit After $180 Billion Boom [View all]

[ProSense]

Londongrad Dealmakers Face Sanctions Hit After $180 Billion Boom

By Matthew Campbell and Morgane Lapeyre

Russian companies have made $180 billion in deals globally in the past two years, providing steady profits to London bankers, lawyers, and image crafters as the city has become a hub for such transactions. Sanctions planned by the U.S. and European Union threaten that business.

The potential fallout highlights the web of connections linking Russia to the global financial system. Since many large Russian companies are controlled by the state or by billionaires with close ties to President Vladimir Putin, even narrowly targeted sanctions could hurt their global operations.

<...>

“There’s a huge amount of business, both industrial and financial, in both directions between the West and Russia,” said Dominic Sanders, a partner in Moscow at law firm Linklaters. “The further the sanctions and retaliation go, the greater the pain.”

While wealthy Russians have fanned out across Europe, with businesses incorporated in Luxembourg and Cyprus and homes in Switzerland and the south of France, their impact has been most keenly felt in the British capital. Advisory professionals in the city, dubbed “Londongrad” in a 2010 book by journalists Mark Hollingsworth and Stuart Lansley, have been instrumental in Russian deals.

<...>

The instability spawned by the Ukraine crisis is beginning to dent that. Billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov’s children-goods retailer Detsky Mir Group is postponing a planned London share sale because of tensions over Crimea, according to people familiar with the matter. The company declined to comment.

- more -

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-03-17/londongrad-dealmakers-face-sanctions-hit-after-180-billion-boom

Russia's Eleven: Who Are the Officials the U.S. Has Sanctioned?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024680769