Cyprus Popular Bank Public Co (CPB) has entered into a share purchase agreement with Czech Expobank to sell its shares in Serbia’s Marfin bank, including 99.09% of the bank’s fully paid share capital and 72.50% of the bank’s preferred shares, Belgrade-based media reported on Friday.
The official purchase contract was signed on September 30, but is yet to be approved by the competent authorities in Serbia, the Czech Republic and Cyprus, news daily Novosti reported.
After 10 years in Serbia, CPB is divesting from Marfin bank following a transparent international tender process with the participation of four international investors, Novosti wrote, quoting Chris Pavlou, special administrator of CPB.
According to Novosti, Expobank is majority owned by Russian businessmen Igor Vladimirovich Kim, who has close ties to Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
Marfin bank has a market share of 0.7% on the Serbian market.
