According to Mediafax newswire, citing unnamed source, Erste Bank bought an additional stake of as much as 6%, or more than two-thirds of the 8% stake owned by current and former employees of BCR. After the transaction Erste Bank would hold some 68% stake in BCR.
Our view: Following the closure of the acquisition, Erste Bank has launched an offer for BCR-employee shares, which represents an 8% (63.4m shares) stake in the bank. Employees may choose between a cash offer (€ 6.50 per share, representing a 15% discount to the € 7.65 per share paid by Erste Bank for its controlling stake) and a share exchange (ratio of 6 BCR shares for 1 Erste Bank share, equating presently to € 8.85 per share).
Employees opting for the share exchange will be subject to a 1-year lock-up period but may sell up to 50% of their Erste Bank shares immediately at a price of € 45.90 per share (equating to € 7.65 per share).
An offer for employee shares was announced by Erste Bank at the end of last month, so we expect the news to have a neutral trading impact.