Slovenian banking group Nova Ljubljanska Banka announced on November 9 the successful pricing of its offering at €51.50 per share and €10.3 per GDR within its initial public offering (IPO). Based on the offer price, the market capitalisation of the company will be approximately €1.03bn at the start of trading on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.

The Slovenian government is required to privatise the bank by the end of this year under its commitments to the European Commission. The indicative price range for the offering was set last month at €51.5 - €66.0 (inclusive) per share and €10.3 - €13.2 (inclusive) per GDR.

The offering comprises 11.8mn shares being sold by Slovenia equating to an offer size of €608.6mn and representing 59.1% of NLB’s issued share capital plus one share on admission.

“We are very proud of having completed the offering of NLB’s shares. Today's announcement represents a significant milestone in the privatisation process and in fulfilling our commitments to the European Commission. The positive response and appreciation received from global institutional investors has highly pleased us and we look forward to welcoming the new shareholders to the register,” NLB said in a statement.

Shares are expected to start trading on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange on November 14 while GDRs are expected to start trading on the London Stock Exchange the same day. 

According to a statement from the bank, following the sale, the biggest shareholders will be the state with 40.9%, Brandes Investment Partners with 7.6% and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with 6.3%.

In August, the European Commission approved Slovenia’s commitment to sell a first tranche of at least 50% plus one share by the end of 2018.

Previously, Slovenia had committed to sell 75% of the bank in a restructuring plan that served as a basis for the European Commission's approval of state aid to the bank in the 2013 bailout by 2017, but scrapped a planned IPO in June 2016 amid a dispute over the pricing of the offer and an ongoing lawsuit over Yugoslav-era deposits in Croatia.

NLB is the largest banking and financial group in the country with a market share of 23.2% by total assets and the largest client base. The NLB Group had 349 branches at the end of June, of which 108 branches are located in Slovenia and 241 in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

For the first six months of 2018 and for the full year 2017 the NLB Group recorded a net profit attributable to shareholders equal to €104.8mn and €225.1mn, respectively.