State buys 34% of shares of Komercijalna Banka

The Republic of Serbia today bought 34% of the shares of Komercijalna Banka, whereby it met its obligation within the current sale of the bank, two sources confirmed for Tanjug.

The information has not yet been officially confirmed, and the exact value of the shares the state bought at the Belgrade Stock Exchange from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) is not known either.

Blic writes that the value amounts to EUR 211.8 million, but that hasn't been confirmed.

The Republic of Serbia now owns 83.2% of the shares of Komercijalna Banka.

Said obligation is defined in the public invitation for statements of interest for the sale of Komercijalna Banka, where it is said that the state will buy the shares from the bank's four large shareholders.

By acquiring the shares from these two large shareholders of Komercijalna Banka, the state has fulfilled its obligation as part of the current sale of the bank, defined back in 2006.

This June, the state bought the shares of the funds from Germany and Sweden, DEG and SVED, of a total of 6.8%.

The deadline for the submission of binding bids for the sale of Komercijalna Banka expires on December 2, and the interested players in the running at the moment are three banks, Raiffeisen from Austria, AIK Banka from Serbia and NLB Banka from Slovenia, and the American investment fund Ripplewood Advisors, owned by American businessman Tim Collins.

NLB Komercijalna banka AD Beograd

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

EBRD Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj Beograd

Komercijalna banka

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

International Finance Corporation

Raiffeisen

AIK banka

NLB banka

Ripplewood Advisors

Republic of Serbia

sale of a bank