Goldman Finding Third Time a Charm as Blankfein Courts Kremlin
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Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is making a third attempt in 17 years to crack the Russian market, this time by leveraging a $1 billion private-equity bet to win deals and wooing the Kremlin for roles in asset sales.
The effort is paying off. The firm has jumped to second place in advising on Russian mergers and acquisitions this year, behind Morgan Stanley, after failing to make the top three for more than a decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It has also secured pledges from companies including Mail.ru Group Ltd. and Tinkoff Credit Systems to arrange equity and Eurobond deals in return for investing more than $1 billion of its own money.