LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), November 14 (SeeNews) – Shares of Slovenia’s largest lender, Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), were admitted to trading on the stock exchanges in Ljubljana and London on Wednesday, the bank said.
“NLB’s ordinary shares have today been admitted to trading on the prime market sub-segment of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange (LJSE),” the bank said in a statement.
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At the same time global depositary receipts (GDRs) representing NLB's ordinary shares have been admitted to listing on the official list of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange's (LSE) main market for listed securities, the statement added.
Last week, Slovenia sold 59.1% of NLB's issued share capital in an initial public offering (IPO) at 51.50 euro ($58.77) per share as part of the privatisation of the bank agreed between the government and the European Commission.
Based on the final offer price, the market capitalisation of NLB will be approximately 1.03 billion euro at the start of trading in Ljubljana and London on November 14, Slovenia's government which owned 100% of NLB prior to the IPO, said last week.
The IPO came in response to the commitment of Slovenia undertaken as part of the restructuring plan of NLB agreed with the European Commission under state aid procedure in 2013. Back then, the Slovenian government stepped in to recapitalise NLB and two other lenders - NKBM and Abanka, narrowly avoiding an international bailout. The same year, Slovenia committed to the European Commission to sell part of NLB within four years.
NLB is holding around 23% of total banking assets in Slovenia. It provides universal banking services and has a strong presence through its core subsidiaries in five countries of Southeast Europe.
($ = 0.88823 euro)
Nova Ljubljanska Banka d.d. is among the biggest banks in SEE, for more reference take a look at
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