SIF Muntenia sells 5.1% in Banc Post

Financial Investment Company (SIF) Muntenia has sold 5.1% in Banc Post to the bank’s majority stakeholder, Greek group EFG Eurobank Ergasias.

SIF Muntenia is the first of the Financial Investment Companies to let go of a banking stake which it had owned ever since establishment.

The deal was worth 9.58 million euros, concluded at a price of 8,300 ROL/share.

Theodor Mihaescu, chairman of Muntenia Invest, the company managing SIF Muntenia assets, specified the money would be used for investments in other companies included in SIF Muntenia’s portfolio. Moreover, SIF Muntenia wants to kick-start a programme related to the repurchase of residual stock next year, which will require financial resources of tens of millions of euros.

In the first 11 months of this year, SIF Muntenia registered the lowest profit among SIFs, of 5.3 million euros.

“The price seems good to me. The main shareholder launched an offering to all the other stockholders. As a minority shareholder, we have no interest to remain part of a structure, which does not aim at improving profits at the level of the bank, but at the level of the entire group. We did the same with the UniCredit stake,” maintains Theodor Mihaescu.

According to Mihaescu, SIF Muntenia, as well as the other SIFs, had been in talks with the Greeks of Eurobank to sell their stakes. ‘We have been the first to finalise the transaction,” he stated.

Considering this transaction, the total value of Banc Post amounts to 186.6 million euros. Banc Post ranks fifth in the Romanian banking system, with a market share of 4.4% and assets worth 766 million euros.

Banc Post reported H1 profit worth 11 million euros. BRD, with a market share of 13.2%, is valued at 1.37 billion euros on the BSE, whereas Banca Transilvania, with a share of 2.7% has a market capitalisation of 320 million euros.

Following this transaction, Eurobank has come to own 63.7% in Banc Post. When they were set up, the five financial investment companies each received a 6% stake in Banc Post capital, which were subsequently diluted to 5.1% in the wake of a share capital increase the bank underwent this year.

Besides the other four SIFs and Eurobank, Banc Post shareholders also include EBRD and IFC, each holding 7.28% of stock, and GE Capital with a share of 8.75%.
vlad.nicolaescu@zf.ro