March 22 (SeeNews) - Slovenia's state holding company SDH said it has asked the shareholders of local business conglomerate Sava to give Serbia's AIK Banka more time to obtain regulatory clearance for the acquisition of a 37.6% stake in Gorenjska Banka (GB).
In January, SDH said Sava's shareholders approved the sale of the company's stake in Gorenjska Banka to peer AIK, but under the condition it obtains consent from Serbia's central bank, Slovenia's central bank and the European Central Bank in 45 days.
However, AIK Banka is yet to get regulatory clearance and has asked for an extension of the original deadline, SDH said in a statement on Wednesday.
The holding company explained that it would be in Sava's best interest to give AIK more time, as the sale of Gorenjska Banka is part of its financial restructuring.
In January, local media reported that Serbia's central bank has withdrawn the clearance granted to AIK Banka to acquire a stake in Gorenjska Banka from Sava, due to several irregularities at the bank.
Following the approval of the sale by Sava shareholders, SDH was portrayed by some media as being very sympathetic to AIK owner, Serb tycoon Miodrag Kostic, and accused of leading direct sales negotiations with him.
SDH has denied these reports, stating that it is not involved in the sale of Gorenjska banka as it does not have direct ownership in it.
SDH and the Kapitalska druzba fund are Sava's largest share owners with a combined 45.13% stake, while Luxembourg-based York Global Finance owns 41.74%.
Slovenia's central bank requested in 2016 that Sava sell its stake in Gorenjska. It is part of a consortium of Gorenjska Banka shareholders, formed in July 2016 with the intent to sell a combined holding of over 50%.
In February last year, Slovenia's central bank gave the green light to AIK Banka to increase its stake in Gorenjska Banka to more than 50%.
Currently, AIK holds a 21% stake in Gorenjska Banka.
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