Slovenian branch of Raiffeisen bank sold

  • Raiffeisen banka, the Slovenian subsidiary of the Austrian Raiffeisen bank, has been sold for an undisclosed sum to Biser Bidco, a company run by an affiliate of US investment fund Apollo Global Management.

    Raiffeisen announced its plan to pull out of the Slovenian market at the beginning of the year. The move comes after the US fund Apollo acquired the state-owned NKBM bank, now Slovenia’s no. 3 bank, in June.

    The transaction is to be concluded in the first half of 2016 pending regulatory approval. Raiffeisen Bank International said on Thursday that the sale of the Slovenian branch was a part of the company’s strategy.

    Slovenian company Raiffeisen Leasing was however not included in the transaction. Raiffeisen is expected to book a negative effect of EUR 49m through the deal, which has already been included in the company’s outlook, the company said.

    The deal, which will reduce the bank’s risk-weighted assets by around EUR 270m, will have a “minimal negative effect” on Raiffeisen’s fully loaded Core Equity Tier 1 ratio, it said. According to past media reports, Apollo is interested in creating the biggest bank in Slovenia through acquisitions of private and state-owned banks. The fund was mentioned already in September as a possible buyer of Raiffeisen banka as well as of Sberbank, the Russian-owned bank which is also withdrawing from Slovenia.

    Source: The Slovenia Times

    Photo: rbinternational.com

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