Last weekend saw a significant reduction in the stake that Russia’s Viktor Vekselberg and his Renova group holds in Swiss-headquartered Schmolz+Bickenbach (S+B). The process comes as a consequence of US sanctions against Russian companies.  

S+B has announced the termination of the shareholders' agreement between the two shareholders Renova Group and Schmolz+Bickenbach Beteiligungs GmbH, which represents the holding of the founder families of the steel group.

At the same time, Renova and its Swiss holding group Liwet Holding AG have reduced their holding in the steelmaker from around 42% to 26.90% of the voting rights, Kallanish learns from S+B. According to the release, Schmolz+Bickenbach Beteiligungs GmbH’s stake is around 10%.

At Renova’s Swiss unit, Renova Management AG, the US announcement in early April has led to massive changes, with seven administrative board members stepping down. This included well-known bankers such as former Deutsche Bank ceo Jürgen Ackermann as well as Vekselberg himself, who has been a member of the board since 2004.