VTB has finally sold its 5% holding in European defence and aerospace company EADS after months of speculation that Russia's second largest bank was poised to offload the stake.

Russian Development Bank, which two months ago raised $1.5bn (€1bn) from selling new shares for what analysts said was likely to be a war chest to buy VTB's stake in EADS, has paid $1.43bn for the holding, according to Reuters.