Former Laiki will sell its 50.04% stake in Russia’s CB Rosprombank Co Ltd to a local fund, according to information obtained by the press.
Legacy Laiki administrator Chris Pavlou has confirmed that the agreements have been made, telling the press: “Announcements should be expected soon”.
PJSC Marfin Bank Ukraine will end up in Russian hands, as Russian Alfa group has sealed the deal for the 99.91% stake.
Both subsidiaries in Ukraine and Russia are expected to be sold at a discount, as the escalation of war in east Ukraine, along with sanctions that were imposed from EU and US, have damaged the economies and financial sectors of both countries.
Laiki paid €156m for its Ukrainian subsidiary in 2007 but it now holds a book value of just €17.3m. In 2008 Marfin paid €83m for its share in Rosprombank.
Marfin Belgrade is to be sold to Latvian Expobank for around €30m, which is close to its book value. However, the bank has lost more than 20% of its book value over the past threeyears. Expobank belongs to businessman Igor Kim and has been operating a branch in Cyprus since 2010. The Marfin Romania case is more advanced as the National Bank of Romania (central bank) is currently examining the case and is expected to approve the sale of the subsidiary to the Bank of Beirut for a sum of around €30 million.
The biggest assets of the now-defunct Laiki bank are yet to be sold. The bank owns 48.9% of the profit-making Lombard Bank of Malta.
“The Maltese stake will be put for sale soon,” Pavlou said.
At the end of the year the price per share for the Maltese Bank was at €1.85. In 2007, Marfin paid €48m for the Lombard share and one should expect that the price that will be sold will not be less than that.
Investment Bank of Greece will be the last Legacy Laiki subsidiary to be sold as it is currently running the sale process.
The resolution authority has also appointed an advisor for the sale of Laiki’s share in BoC.
Legacy Laiki subsidiaries and a 9.6% of stake in Bank of Cyprus are the only assets left. Former bank depositors lost €3.9 billion from their savings during March 2013 bail-in.
However, Legacy Laiki’s total assets, estimated at €300 million, will be unable to make up for their losses. Legacy Laiki is also suing former owners, claiming €3.5 billion for damages caused to the bank, while thousands have filed cases in court against the bank after deposits were bailed in and bonds and shares were wiped out in 2013.
Source: InCyprus
