Who can afford to buy Komercijalna Banka?

Bidders who are interested in Komercijalna Banka are motivated primarily by expanding their own active assets, for which they have planned investments

An envelope containing four bids for Komercijalna Banka has been opened, but it has not been disclosed who exactly sent the non-binding bids, nor how much those who took part are prepared to set aside for "the Serbian silverware."

The Ministry confirmed that these are some banks that are already present in our market, along with a fund. As we reported earlier, NLB Bank, the domestic AIK, as well as a consortium of domestic Direktna Banka, Greek Eurobank and US investment fund Riplewood Advisors did not hide their interest in Komercijalna.

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Which of them will offer binding bids will be decided after analyzing and ranking the bidders for the second phase. It should also be kept in mind that the bank is listed on the stock market.

Those who progress to the second phase will be given access to the bank's documentation to analyze its operations and are expected to submit binding offers in mid-November.

As stated earlier, the payment of the tender deposit will depend on the type of tender, while the entire privatization process should be completed by the end of the year.

Komercijalna Banka currently holds 11 percent market share in Serbia and has more than 3,000 employees. Last year, the bank generated consolidated net profit of 8.38 billion dinars (71 million euros).

According to estimates, it is worth just over 400 million euros. That is how much the mentioned banks will have to pay individually (or together).

NLB BANK

As NLB banka from Ljubljana confirmed for our portal back at the start of summer, their current market share in Serbia is below two percent and they are interested in finding ways to grow their business in our country.

Although a leader in the Slovenian market, this bank is small in Serbia. Taking over Komercijalna would make it the second largest bank with 12.5 percent of the market and assets of about four billion euros.

"The Serbian market is the largest market in the region when it comes to our sector and thus, of course, one of the main markets in our business environment. As our current market share in Serbia is below two percent we are interested in finding ways to grow our business in your country, also through M&A if there's a good opportunity. To achieve this we analyze and monitor all transactions in the market, including Komercijalna Banka," NLB told Telegraf Biznis at the time.

RAIFFEISEN AND AIK

Raiffeisen has almost 8 percent market share, which makes it the fifth largest, but by acquiring Komercijalna it would become the leader. The bank's headquarters have repeatedly said that they are looking for room to expand in the Balkans and are looking at potential takeovers. It has been speculated that Raiffeisen could take over Adiko across the region, as well as Komercijalna.

AIK Banka, owned by businessman Miodrag Kostic, holds 5.4 percent of the market with 208 billion dinars in active assets. It too would become the market leader if it acquired Komercijalna. Constant acquisitions in the region and the expansion of its business clearly show that they have money.

DIREKTNA BANK

Currently very small, smaller than NLB, with a share of some 1.5 percent of the market. The bank which is owned by businessmen Andrej Jovanovic and Bojan Milovanovic is speculated to have bid together with the Riplewood Advisers Fund, run by businessman Tim Collins.

Those who remember Collins and his idea of ​​a business plan for this part of the Balkans from several years ago know that acquisition of Komercijalna Banka is at the top of that list. At least its smaller share.

On the other hand, Andrej Jovanovic has been involved in two major transactions this year that have brought in millions of euros that would be enough to bid for Komercijalna Banka. Namely, at the beginning of the year Bambi was sold to Coca-Cola for 260 million euros, while during the summer Knjaz Milos was sold to PepsiCo. Although the value of the latter transaction has not been officially revealed, it was clearly not less than 200 million.

Jovanovic is a partner of the Mid Europa Investment Fund, and together they owned the above mentioned companies.

Komercijalna Banka is comprised of ad Beograd bank, Komercijalna Banka ad Podgorica, Komercijalna Banka ad Banja Luka and Kombank Invest ad Belgrade.

(Telegraf Biznis/V.B)