RBI receives 12 offers to buy Ukrainian subsidiary - paper
KYIV. Feb 12 (Interfax) - Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI, Austria) has received 12 offers to acquire its subsidiary bank in Ukraine - Raiffeisen Bank Aval (Kyiv), RBI Head Karl Sevelda said in an interview with Germany's Die Presse.
"We're in talks with the interested sides. Initially we had 12 offers, but we rejected some of them. Some of the interested sides are conducting preliminary valuation," Sevelda said.
He did not disclose the potential cost of the bank, but he said that its balance sheet value is around EUR 820 million.
Sevelda said that the Ukrainian subsidiary was making a profit. "Last year its profit stood at EUR 90 million," he said.
He said that if the political situation in Ukraine worsens, the group has plans in case of unforeseen consequences, including measures to ensure safety of employees and support the bank's liquidity.
Sevelda also said that the group is mulling the leaving of Hungarian and Slovenian markets and plans to invest in six other markets: Austria, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania.
In October 2013 it was announced that Raiffeisen Bank International is holding negotiations on the sale of its subsidiary bank in Ukraine - Raiffeisen Bank Aval. According to media reports, Russia's Alfa-Bank has received the exclusive right to hold the talks. Alfa-Group financial and industrial consortium, which incorporated Alfa-Bank, denies it has the exclusive right to hold the talks.
President of Alfa-Bank (Ukraine) Alexander Lukanov in the middle of November told Interfax-Ukraine that the bank was mulling the possibility of non-organic growth, although he denied reports that the purchase of Raiffeisen Bank Aval was being prepared.
Raiffeisen Bank Aval was founded in 1992. Its largest shareholder on January 1, 2014 was RBI with 96.4266%.
According to the National Bank of Ukraine, on October 1, 2013 in terms of total assets (UAH 44.804 billion) Raiffeisen Bank Aval ranked fifth among 178 operating banks in Ukraine.
