Erste, majority owner of Romania’s largest bank BCR, has issued 35.2 million shares at a price of EUR18.75 a share.
Existing shareholders of Erste Group on2 July 2013 will receive subscription rights in the ratio of four new shares for each 45 shares held, the Austrian bank said.
It said all new shares not committed to be taken up by existing shareholders have been placed in the accelerated bookbuild offering, with 50% of these new shares subject to clawback and deferred settlement in case of exercise of subscription rights by those shareholders who have not previously waived their subscription rights.
J.P. Morgan Securities plc, Morgan Stanley Bank AG and Erste Group Bank AG were joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners on the deal, while Commerzbank AG and ING Bank N.V. are acting as co-lead managers on the capital increase.
Erste announced last week that several of its key investors who held together around 37.4% of the bank’s share capital prior to the increase have agreed to waive their subscription rights in relation to the subscription offering.
Erste Stftung, the bank’s largest shareholder, has agreed to provide additional shares to meet outside demand.
The proceeds from the capital increase will be used to finance a planned redemption of Erste’s entire outstanding participation capital of EUR1.76 billion received in 2009 from the Austrian government and private investors.