UPDATE 1 - Sofia calls tender for majority stake in Municipal Bank

Potential buyers will be offered 3,880,388 shares in a one-stage tender, the agency said in a notice published on its website.

The interested candidates should be strategic or financial investors.

Strategic investors - banking or credit institutions, must have have a full banking licence and a S&P rating not lower than 'BB-' or equivalent, according to the notice.

Financial investors should be active in fund management, participation in financial assets and/or shareholdings of other companies, and have capital of at least 20 million levs as of the date of submitting an offer.

The municipal council's prevoius attempt to sell the bank failed in 2014.

In July, Sofia City Council said it has decided to put Municipal Bank on the list of companies slated for privatisation in 2017.

On June 30, Moody's Investors Service upgraded the long and short-term local and foreign-currency deposit ratings of Municipal Bank to Ba3 from B1, with a stable outlook.

As at end-August, Municipal Bank was 15th largest lender by assets among 27 banks operating in Bulgaria, according to data from the country's central bank.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)