Sberbank, a state-owned Russian banking and financial services company, agreed to acquire a 20% minority stake of MF Technologies from Gazprombank for $170m. The agreement will be concluded by the end of 2019, after obtaining all necessary permits from corporate governance bodies and regulators. Sberbank’s 35% stake in MF Technologies would give it control of one-fifth of the voting rights of Mail.Ru and a 1.8% economic interest in the tech giant. The bank shares and supports the strategy pursued by Mail.ru. Two mutually reinforcing ecosystems working together to maximize their synergy should create new opportunities for clients.