Commerzbank paid $600 million for a 60 percent stake in privately owned Ukrainian lender Bank Forum, Reuters reports.
Commerzbank, Germany’s second-biggest listed lender, says it had the option of buying a further 25 percent after 36 months in the bank, which has assets of about 1.4 billion ($1.94 billion).
The move, which Commerzbank will pay for from existing financial resources, will strengthen the bank’s position in central and eastern Europe, it says.
“We have found an ideal complement for our network of operational outlets in the booming region of central and eastern Europe in the form of Bank Forum, the 10th largest bank in Ukraine by total assets,” says Martin Blessing, Commerzbank board member in charge of business with medium-sized companies.
“With approximately 12,000 corporate customers, of which 9,500 are small and medium-sized enterprises, Bank Forum is already making an important contribution to strengthening our Mittelstand business,” Blessing says, adding that Commerzbank also aims to boost Bank Forum’s retail customer business.
Commerzbank says purchase of 60 percent plus one share and the option for the further stake both came from shares held by Bank Forums’s majority investor, Leonid Yurushev. The Yurushev family holds 84.5 percent of the bank’s shares.
Bank Forum serves about 230,000 retail customers across Ukraine, and plans to double its market share from the current 2.3 percent, Reuters reports.