February 16 (SeeNews) - Slovenian state-owned lender NKBM is set to sell its 89.5% stake in Kragujevac-based KBM Banka to two Serbian businessmen as a step towards its own privatisation, Ljubljana-based media reported on Tuesday.
NKBM will shortly sign a deal for the sale of its stake in KBM to Andrej Jovanovic and Bojan Milovanovic, having already obtained regulatory approval for the move, daily Vecer reported.
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The daily added that through the sale NKBM will meet the last condition set by US fund Apollo and its partner, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), who are poised to become its new shareholders.
In mid-2015, Slovenian state holding company SDH, which is coordinating the privatisation process in the country, said it has signed a deal to sell 100% of the country's second largest lender, NKBM, to funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management and to the EBRD for 250 million euro ($279.1 million).
Apollo-affiliated funds will acquire 80% of NKBM and the EBRD the remaining 20%, SDH said at the time.
KBM Banka will be sold for a symbolic price, as the new owner is expected to immediately inject fresh capital to ensure the banks existence, Vecer concluded.
Kragujevac-based KBM Banka had 270 staff as of the end of March last year and assets totalling 74 million euro. The lender posted a loss of 161,000 euro in the first quarter of 2015.
NKBM was rescued by the government in Ljubljana alongside peers NLB and Abanka in late 2013 when the tiny Alpine state narrowly avoided an international bailout. At the time, NKBM was the nation's second largest lender.
($=0 8976 euro)
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