RBI Reaches Takeover Threshold for Addiko
Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has reached the minimum acceptance threshold for its takeover bid for Vienna-based Addiko Bank. However, the competing bidder, Slovenia’s Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), is continuing its campaign to win over additional shareholders before both offers expire on July 29. RTV SLO reported this on July 22.
RBI announced that, as of the morning of July 20, it had received acceptance notices for 10,703,509 shares. This represents 55.5% of the Addiko shares covered by the offer and thus exceeds the 55% minimum threshold required for the offer to be successful.
However, shareholders who have already accepted RBI’s offer may still withdraw their acceptance by July 23 and tender their shares to NLB instead. According to RBI, no withdrawal notices had been received as of July 20.
NLB Continues to Court Shareholders
The takeover battle remains open, however. According to NLB, at least 28.9% of Addiko’s share capital has already accepted its offer.
“More and more international investors are expressing their confidence in NLB’s offer,” the Slovenian bank stated.
After two revisions, NLB is now offering 37 euros per share, net of any future dividends. This puts the offer 39.6% above RBI’s offer of 26.50 euros per share. To increase its chances of success, NLB has also lowered its minimum acceptance threshold from 75% to 50% plus one share.
Support from Major Shareholders
NLB can now count on the support of several major shareholders. Brandes Investment Partners (holding more than 5% of Addiko’s shares), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with 8.4%, and Wellington Management with 5.7% have announced their support for the offer.
In addition, NLB stated that Johannes Proksch, the vice chairman of Addiko’s supervisory board, has decided to tender his shares as part of the offer.
Different Strategic Goals
Both banks are pursuing different strategic goals with the acquisition. RBI aims to return to the Slovenian banking market, while NLB seeks to strengthen its position in Southeast Europe and, through Addiko, expand its presence particularly in Croatia.
Addiko Bank has subsidiaries in Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Montenegro, and focuses primarily on retail and SME banking.