“It will not exit Allianz. There’s no reason I should do it. I did not exit UniCredit. Ten years ago I discussed with the Austrian bank, I said I wasn’t going to sell everything at the time but will sell if they promise to buy in ten years,” Ion Tiriac said.
“Ten years later we shook hands and went our separate ways. It’s not the same thing with Allianz-Tiriac, because I neither sold nor bought, I am the second largest shareholder with 47% or 48% and that’s how I’ll stay.”
The UniCredit group, which bought Ion Tiriac’s 45% in UniCredit Tiriac in June, was bound to buy the stake of the former tennis player at a multiple of 3.6 to 3.8 of the net asset of the bank, according to the sale option set in 2005. This means Tiriac might get more than EUR1 billion from UniCredit. At the time, it was a conservative estimate of the value of the lender considering BCR was to be sold at six times the net asset value six months later. Banks are now valued at a multiple of 1 to 1.5, depending on their market position and portfolio quality.
Besides his Allianz Tiriac stake, the businessman also owns 15% in Metro Cash & Carry Romania, as well Tiriac Holdings, which has auto, real estate, aviation and energy operations. Tiriac owns the largest car dealer in the country, whose revenue stands at almost EUR200 million.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)