News

Slovenian Sovereign Holding and Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor d. d. announce signing of the Sale and Purchase Agreement of Abanka d.d.

Ljubljana, 20 June 2019 – Slovenian Sovereign Holding d.d. (SSH), as a representative of the Republic of Slovenia, together with Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor d.d. (NKBM), Slovenia’s second largest bank, announced today the signing of the Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) pursuant to which NKBM will acquire 100% of the shares held by the Republic of Slovenia in Abanka d.d. (Abanka). NKBM is owned by Investment funds affiliated and managed by Apollo Global Management, LLC (80%) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD, 20%).

The Bank was valued at €511 million (Total Consideration), including a dividend in the amount of €67 million which was paid out to the Seller in May 2019, prior to the signing of the SPA.

The closing of the Transaction is subject to receiving all applicable authorisations and approvals from the relevant authorities.

Abanka is Slovenia's third largest bank by assets, providing an integrated and comprehensive range of financial services – from traditional retail and corporate banking products to bancassurance and private banking.

NKBM has been selected as the buyer after submitting the best offer for 100% of the shares of Abanka in a competitive sales process managed by SSH. The privatisation of Abanka attracted a wide range of strategic and financial investors and was executed in line with best international standards and in a transparent manner, providing an equal treatment to all participating investors.

After the transaction was approved, Igor Kržan, the President of the SSH's Management Board said: »With today's execution of the Sale and Purchase Agreement with the Buyer of Abanka, Nova kreditna banka Maribor, SSH has satisfied all of the committments given by the Republic of Slovenia to the European Commission with regard to the state aid. The signing of the Agreement is an important milestone in SSH's efforts to successfully complete privatisation processes, acquiring responsible and experienced investors who will support the development of companies and their ttansformation into more successful and more competitive players. The Buyer has acqiured a sound and stable Bank, the third largest Bank Group in Slovenia. We wish them a lot of success on their journey.»

John Denhof (Chairman of NKBM Management Board) said: “We are pleased to have successfully signed the Abanka purchase agreement. This historic moment is an incredible opportunity for us and Abanka to create a stronger combined bank, which is positive for the Slovenian economy. The combined bank will have improved access to customers in all segments nationwide and will support the competitiveness of the Slovenian banking sector. By signing the acquisition of Abanka, we make great progress towards realizing our strategy, among others growth, profitability and client excellence. We look forward to the successful cooperation with the Abanka management team and employees and the regulators to close the transaction soon and realise the potential.”

The signing of the SPA is the result of the fulfilment of the commitment given by the Republic of Slovenia pursuant to the European Commission’s state aid decision SA.38522 from 16 December 2014.