Three place binding bids for Serbia's Komercijalna Banka

The tender commission has opened the three bids and they were found to contain the elements stipulated in the tender documentation for the second, binding phase of the procedure, the finance ministry said in a statement on Monday.

According to local media reports, the bids were placed by Serbian lender AIK Banka [BEL:AIKB], Slovenia's largest bank - Nova Ljubljanska Banka [LJE:NLBR], and Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI).

US private equity firm Ripplewood Advisors, which were among the candidates for the purchase of the bank, did not place a binding bid, Blic daily reported.

In the coming days, the finance ministry will analyse and evaluate the binding bids and will rank them. Qualified bidders will be notified of the ranking, and the best-ranked bidder will be invited to negotiate on the purchase of 83.23% of the ordinary shares of Komercijalna Banka held by the Serbian government, the finance ministry said.