Spain’s Caixabank said that it was considering selling its entire 9.92% stake in the Austrian lender Erste Group Bank. The stake has currented a market value of around 1.65 billion euros. The Austrian lender’s 429.8 million outstanding shares comes under this. The lender said that a potential full disposal of its stake in Erste based on the share price of September would result in a non-material impact on its bottom line. Also, this would have positive effect of 15 basis points in its core tier-1 ratio.
Caixabank, like other Spanish and European banks, in March closed the acquisition of Bankia. It is trying to comply with harsher solvency requirements. Also, the regulators are demanding banks to focus on their core banking business. The sale of its stake could take place in different steps. Caixabank owns a 5.42% unhedged stake in EBS. Caixabank also stated that it was considering to settle equity swaps underlying a 4.5% of its stake by delivering the underlying shares to equity swaps counterparties. Also, they said that the divestment of Caixabank‘s entire stake in Erste Bank would ultimately depend on market conditions.
