Vladescu announces speedier CEC privatisation

The Government will announce the deadline for submitting final bids for the privatisation of CEC (Savings Bank) in the next few weeks, once the revised strategy for the sale of a 69.9% stake has been published in the Official Gazette, Sebastian Vladescu, Finance Minister and head of the privatisation committee stated in London.

“We have already endorsed the new privatisation strategy adapted after the experience with BCR and will announce the interval for consulting the data room and the deadline to submit binding bids to the interested investors,” Vladescu said.

He was interpellated by Theodore Karakasis, the deputy general manager of the Greek EFG Eurobank Group, one of the investors in competition for CEC.

“There have been a number of steps back in the privatisation process lately,” Karakasis said. He restated EFG Eurobank”s interest in taking over CEC, adding the Greek group had made the highest preliminary bid in the stage of selecting potential investors.

Sebastian Vladescu answered the privatisation process “is in progress” and that a postponement was out of the question.

“We will speed up procedures soon, so I believe the privatisation will be completed by the end of this year,” Vladescu told the investors attending a presentation seminar for Romania during the annual meeting of the EBRD.

Along with EFG Eurobank, which is Bancpost”s majority shareholder, Raiffeisen, Dexia, the National Bank of Greece and OTP have had privatisation offers accepted, whilst the Italians at Monte dei Paschi have notified that they want to drop out of the race.

At the end of April, the Government modified the privatisation strategy of CEC, with the state set to sell a 69.9% stake to an international financial banking institution. Moreover, the Economic Policy, Reform and Privatisation Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, early this month decided that besides the 69.9% to be sold to a strategic buyer, 5% of CEC is to be sold to employees and retired employees of the bank at a price equal to that of the sale of the controlling interests.