Bank Austria Creditanstalt has signed an agreement to purchase Eksimbanka, a Serbian bank headquartered in Belgrade.
The sellers of the 58.7% majority interest are the German Investment and Development Company DEG, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the investment management company Futura Investment as well as SEEF Holding (a member of the Soros Group). “By acquiring Eksimbanka we will significantly strengthen our market position in Serbia”, says Erich Hampel, CEO of Bank Austria Creditanstalt.
Eksimbanka has total assets of EUR 144 million (as at 30 September 2004) and a market share of 2.4%, which makes it number 12 in the Serbian banking market. Together with Eksimbanka, BA-CA will hold a market share of 5.3% in Serbia.
Due to legal requirements in Serbia, a binding, public takeover offer will be submitted to all the shareholders of Eksimbanka. The acquisition is subject to approval by all relevant authorities as well as acceptance of the public takeover offer.
Details of the transaction will not be disclosed until submission of the public takeover offer, which is planned for the beginning of December 2004. The purchase price will be a double-digit figure in millions of euros. CA IB, BA-CA’s investment banking arm, acted as adviser to BA-CA on this acquisition.