SEB has agreed to relinquish all its shares in Bank Ochrony Srodowiska S.A. (BOS) to Poland’s National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOS), citing dissatisfaction with the bank’s ownership structure.
The move follows recent reports in a Polish newspaper that SEB was looking to sell its shares and a failed bid in September to acquire the 52.7% remaining shares.
“However, as we have not been able to achieve a majority ownership, the prerequisites for providing our full authority and capacity in the bank are not in place,” said Mats Kjaer, SEB’s executive vice president and head of Eastern European banking. “It was not a long term option for SEB to continue holding a minority ownership position. We have agreed to sell our shares, as this means BOS will now have a clear ownership structure.”
The agreement is expected to close by mid-year. The transaction value amounts to PLN 576,862,724 (approximately SEK 1,400 million), ending in a share price of PLN 92.