Hungarian govʼt sells stake in Gránit Bank
The government has sold its stake in Granit Bank to the lenderʼs chairman-CEO Éva Hegedűs, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said at a press conference today.
The government sold its 36.5% stake in the bank to E.P.M. for an offered price of HUF 4.5 billion. Éva Hegedűs is the sole owner of E.P.M., which already held a 24.7% stake in Gránit Bank, data published by the lender in April shows.
Hegedűs has been a stakeholder in the bank since it was established by construction industry magnate Sándor Demján in 2010 to help SMEs out of the economic crisis. Demján sold his own stake to Hegedűs a year ago.
Varga announced in July that the state would sell its 36.5% stake in Gránit Bank. The government aimed to sell the stake for more than the HUF 4.3 bln it invested in the bank, he said at the time, adding that he hoped the sale would be closed by yearend.
In the first round of the sale, the government received several indicative offers but only E.P.M. submitted a binding offer.
Varga said the other co-owners of Gránit Bank and its board of directors have accepted the governmentʼs sale to E.P.M. The National Bank of Hungary, as the regulator, has to approve the deal within 60 days.
The minister noted that the governmentʼs strategic goal is to have the majority of the banking system in domestic hands. Based on the 2015 agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the state does not wish to have a lasting stake in any commercial bank, he added.
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