Mindbank to be sold by yearend

The management team of Mindbank asked its many shareholders (both individuals and legal entities) to authorise representatives in order to sell the bank”s majority stake to “a prominent international bank” before the end of 2006. The bank”s managing team let its shareholders know about its intention to negotiate with investors in order to sustain the future functioning and development of Mindbank as early as last autumn. Mindbank is one of the few banks left on the market with a Romanian majority private capital. Although it was set up in 1990, the bank witnessed a slow growth: last year, its assets were worth almost 80 million euros, which accounted for just 0.2% of the market. Although it works as a niche bank, Mindbank has managed to stay profitable, making 2.45 million euros last year, which it will use to increase the share capital, as it did in 2005, too. The move is to be approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders, called on April 26, with its capital to reach almost 13.3 million euros. The bank has a 12-branch network, which covers most big cities. ZF