AFP, Ljubljana :
Slovenia said Wednesday it has agreed to sell the eurozone country’s third largest bank, state-owned Abanka, meeting the European Union’s demand to privatise it after recapitalising it in 2013.
The state holding SDH, in charge of privatising Slovenian state-owned companies, announced it had agreed to sell Abanka to NKBM, Slovenia’s second-largest bank acquired by US fund Apollo in 2015.
“We agreed to sign a deal with the best bidder NKBM,” SDH said in a statement, adding details would be known on Thursday after the deal was signed.
The takeover price is estimated to be around 500 million euros ($560 million), according to sources quoted by the Slovenian news agency STA.
Slovenia narrowly avoided a bailout in 2013 when it managed to recapitalise the country’s three largest state-owned banks – Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), NKBM and Abanka – without seeking foreign help.
The European Commission authorised the recapitalisation demanding that the trio were privatised.
Abanka is the last of the three lenders to be privatised after the sale of NKBM in 2015 and the privatisation of a majority stake in NLB last year.
In 2013, the Slovenian government injected 781 million euros into Abanka.
Slovenia said Wednesday it has agreed to sell the eurozone country’s third largest bank, state-owned Abanka, meeting the European Union’s demand to privatise it after recapitalising it in 2013.
The state holding SDH, in charge of privatising Slovenian state-owned companies, announced it had agreed to sell Abanka to NKBM, Slovenia’s second-largest bank acquired by US fund Apollo in 2015.
“We agreed to sign a deal with the best bidder NKBM,” SDH said in a statement, adding details would be known on Thursday after the deal was signed.
The takeover price is estimated to be around 500 million euros ($560 million), according to sources quoted by the Slovenian news agency STA.
Slovenia narrowly avoided a bailout in 2013 when it managed to recapitalise the country’s three largest state-owned banks – Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), NKBM and Abanka – without seeking foreign help.
The European Commission authorised the recapitalisation demanding that the trio were privatised.
Abanka is the last of the three lenders to be privatised after the sale of NKBM in 2015 and the privatisation of a majority stake in NLB last year.
In 2013, the Slovenian government injected 781 million euros into Abanka.
