Billionaire seeks Moneta stake to revive Czech bank merger

Prague

BILLIONAIRE Petr Kellner is proposing to buy a stake in Moneta Money Bank at a premium in an attempt to revive one of the largest Czech banking mergers that fell through two years ago.

Mr Kellner's PPF Group wants to acquire as much as 29 per cent of Moneta in a tender offer to all existing shareholders next month at a price that's 19 per cent above the market value, the Prague-listed bank said last Friday. PPF asked Moneta management for an opinion on the offer by Jan 29, as well as to start talks on buying PPF's Air Bank and other Czech and Slovak financial assets through a share swap that could give the richest Czech a majority in the combined entity.

Becoming a "significant" Moneta shareholder through the tender offer would allow the group to support the other proposed transaction, according to the regulatory filing.

"By means of the voluntary tender offer, PPF simultaneously gives an opportunity to Moneta's shareholders who will not support a potential rea-lisation of the planned combination to sell their shares," Moneta said.

The investment company is making the proposal to Moneta shareholders about two years after they opposed the terms of a merger with a different structure. PPF owns assets totalling 44 billion euros (S$71 billion), including media and telecommunications companies in central and eastern Europe as well as a provider of consumer loans in China and other countries.

Moneta and PPF's Air Bank would together hold assets totalling 454 billion koruna (S$28 billion) as of the third quarter of last year, which would make the combined balance sheet the fifth largest among the country's banks if the merger is agreed.

Moneta said it is ready to start talks with PPF on the acquisition and its parameters. It added that, in its view, PPF would most likely be required to launch a mandatory takeover bid for all Moneta shares if the two sides reached an agreement and the acquisition was carried out.

PPF's assets offered for sale to Moneta include Air Bank and its affiliates Home Credit, Benxy, and Home Credit Slovakia; the sale would be carried out through a share exchange in which PPF would gain a 39.7 per cent stake in Moneta on top of any holdings acquired during the tender offer. BLOOMBERG