SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), July 14 (SeeNews) – The Agram concern has offered 20 million marka ($11.4 million/10.2 million euro) for 2,108,469 state-held shares in Bosnian insurer Sarajevo Osiguranje, local media reported on Thursday.
Following two failed attempts to sell the shares via an auction on the Sarajevo Stock Exchange, the privatisation agency of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat Federation has received an offer from Agram for the state stake in the local insurer, news daily Vecernji reported.
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According to bourse data, the government holds a 45.5% stake in Sarajevo Osiguranje, as the bulk of the remainder is in the hands of local investments funds and the Sarajevo-based Raiffeisen bank.
In June, a Sarajevo bourse spokesperson told SeeNews that the Federation did not receive a single bid in an auction for the state stake in Sarajevo Osiguranje. A few days later, the entity's privatisation agency called a second auction asking 10.39 marka per share or 2.6 marka less than during the first auction.
On May 17, the government adopted a decision to divest its share in the insurer via the Sarajevo Stock Exchange.
The move is in line with the entity's privatisation plan for 2016 which foresees the sale of stakes in drug maker Bosnalijek, engineering co Energoinvest, fuel retailer Energopetrol, aluminium smelter Aluminij, tobacco factory Fabrika Duhana Sarajevo and Sarajevo Osiguranje.
The Federation is one of the two autonomous entities forming Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.
Agram is the market leader of insurance in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it also operates in Croatia.
(1 euro=1.95583 Bosnian marka)