Polish Getin Holding to buy 95.5% of Belarusian Small Business Bank
MINSK. July 15 (Interfax) - Polish financial holding Getin Holding has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 95.5% of CJSC Belarusian Small Business Bank, the bank's press service told Interfax.
"We confirm that a preliminary agreement to buy 95.5% of the bank has been signed. This deal needs approval from the National Bank of Belarus," a spokesman said. A Getin Holding report, published on the holding's website, provides details about the deal.
These materials show that the holding will pay around 4.86 million euros for the stake. Getin wants to buy the Belarusian bank to expand its presence on the Bearusian small business lending market.
Polish media have reported that Getin Holding is owned by major Polish businessman Leszek Czarnecki. Earlier he acquired Ideabank former (Sombelbank) in Belarus.
Belarusian Small Business Bank was established in 2008 with the participation of founders from the United States and the European Union. Shareholders include the International Finance Corporation, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, FMO (with 21.67% each), KfW (12.98%), Swedfund (11.64%), ShoreCap International of the United States (4.07%) and ShoreBank (over 1.8%). The bank itself owns 4.49%.
Belarusian Small Business Bank requires additional financing to increase its equity in accordance with National Bank requirements (15 million euros in 2014 and 25 million euros in 2015). Equity on March 1 2013 was 79.1 billion Belarusian rubles, or around 7 million euros.
Earlier the heard of the regional office of the IFC in Ukraine and Belarus Rufat Alimardanov said bank shareholders were considering a Russian bank as a possible strategic investor. They were also considering additional financing from existing shareholders.
The official exchange rate on July 15 stood at 8,820 Bel. rubles/$1.
