In a statement released on the Stock Exchange yesterday, Komercijalna Banka announced that NLB raised their ownership stake to 88% after the takeover bid issued in March.

NLB published the takeover bid for the remaining 16.77% of KMBN shares and 100% of KMBNPB back in March. The bank issued a takeover bid at RSD 3,315.47 per regular share and RSD 934.72 per pref. share. To put things into a perspective, this translates to EUR 82.5m for the remaining stake in the bank. Such an offer (for regular shares) indicated a slight premium (+2%) to share price at the time. According to the statement, NLB was able to acquire 4.8% of regular shares and 15.3% of preferred shares through the recent acquisition bid. As a result, NLB now holds 88% of Komercijalna Banka’s regular shares and 15% of preferred shares. Note that prior to the acquisition NLB held no preferred shares of Komercijalna Banka.

The offer price puts the multiple at a P/B of 0.76x and P/E 19.2x (based on FY 2020 results), implying a valuation of c. EUR 475m for the 100% stake. However, note that the steep multiple is a result of the strong decline in net profit amid the COVID-19 pandemic. When compared to the FY 2019 results the multiples would amount to 0.71x P/B and 6.7x P/E.