For the first time in its history, Alfa Group's bank holding company will sell a stake to a foreign banking organization, Unicredit Group (UCG).

UCG and Alfa Group have reached a binding agreement to transfer UCG's Ukrsotsbank into Alfa Group, in exchange for newly issued shares representing a 9.9% stake in ABH Holdings (ABHH), which is currently wholly owned by Alfa Group shareholders.

"Agreements foresee specific protection rights for both parties including the possibility for UCG to appoint one Board member of ABHH and to cause an IPO of ABHH. Furthermore, parties agreed a Put/Call option mechanism on UCG's stake in ABHH after the 5th anniversary from Closing," UCG said in a press release.

ABHH, based in Luxembourg, owns Russian Alfa-Bank and eponymous banks in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus, as well as Amsterdam Trade Bank N.V. (Netherlands)

The first official announcement of Alfa Group's possible acquisition of Ukrsotsbank in exchange for a stake in ABHH was first made in August 2015, although the parameters of the potential were not disclosed at the time.

ABHH's current beneficiaries are Mikhail Fridman (36.47%), German Khan (23.27%), Alexei Kuzmichev (18.12%), Pyotr Aven (13.76%), Andrei Kosogov (4.08%) and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research (4.3%, previously held by Alexander Knaster).