Austrian bank Volksbanken will be forced to
sell its 50% stake in leasing subsidiary Volksbanken (VB) Leasing
as part of a state bailout package.
The bank, which was bailed out by the Austrian
state in April with a €1.25bn capital injection and €3bn in
liquidity guarantees, is required to sell its stake in VB Leasing
by 2014 as part of European Commission’s regulatory approval of the
rescue package.
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Under the restructuring plan imposed by the
Commission, Volksbanken must cut its balance sheet by more than
€10bn and also sell its 51% stake in its Romanian banking
subsidiary by the end of 2015 and a minority stake in Raiffeisen
bank.
Volksbanken told news agency Reuters it had
not yet begun the process of hiring advisers for the
divestments.
VB Leasing operates across 12 countries in
Central and Eastern Europe and generated €1bn in new business
volume in 2011. The remaining 50% stake is owned by German leasing
firm VR Leasing.
Volksbanken chief executive Stephan Koren told
Reuters around 700 positions will be lost to the bank as a result
of asset sales, and it will cut another 300 to 400 positions, as
part of an “arduous and protracted procedure” to get the bank fit
again.
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By GlobalDatagrant.collinson@vrlfinancialnews.com
