Bulgaria's Doverie buys majority stake in Moldova's Moldindconbank - regulator (updated)

Doverie United Holding AD

18/02/2019 15:30

(Adds quotes, details, background)
    By Alexander Tanas
    CHISINAU, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Bulgarian fund Doverie United
Holding  5DOV.BB  has bought a 64 percent stake in Moldovan bank
Moldindconbank, Moldova's financial market regulator said on
Monday. 
    Moldova's central bank, which is working with the government
on banking reforms, said last month it wanted Moldindconbank
sold to a foreign investor as part of a clean-up of the
financial system backed by the International Monetary Fund and
other donors. 
    This followed a $1 billion bank fraud which plunged the
country into crisis in 2014-2015.
    The central bank froze shares of Moldindconbank, the
country's second largest bank, in October 2016, saying it
believed some shareholders had violated the law governing
financial institutions. 
    The sale is of 3.17 million Moldindconbank shares at 239.5
Moldovan leu ($14.03) per share, or 760.1 million Moldovan leu
($44.5 million) for the entire stake, according to a statement
by the Moldovan stock exchange.
    The majority stake "was acquired by an investor from
Bulgaria - Doverie Holding AD," Valeriu Chitan, the head of the
market regulator, told Reuters by phone on Monday.  
    Moldindconbank has not commented on Monday's announcement
but previously welcomed Doverie as a buyer. 
    "The investor comes from a country which is in the European
Union," Victor Cibotaru, the central bank-appointed temporary
administrator of the bank told Reuters last month. 
    "(It also) has a certain history of sustainable development
- it did not appear on the market yesterday, or the day before,"
he said, adding the fact that Doverie was a large public company
was also a plus. 
    Doverie has not commented on the sale but announced a
preliminary agreement last week. Shares of the fund on the Sofia
Stock Exchange jumped 39 percent after the preliminary
announcement, and rose another 2 percent on Monday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2094HG
    Moldindconbank, which has a market share of more than 20
percent of the Moldovan banking sector, is the third major bank
sold to a foreign investor as part of the IMF-backed clean-up. 
    In October, a consortium led by the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development bought a 41 percent stake in
Moldova's largest lender, Moldova-Agroindbank.
    The central bank governor last month stressed the importance
of the sale of Moldindconbank going through before a
parliamentary election on Sunday, which could result in a hung
parliament and hold up further reforms.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1ZP1WQ
    Moldovan authorities have worked to restore faith in the
financial system after the disappearance of $1 billion from
three banks with opaque ownership structures.
    Known locally as the "theft of the century", the scandal
triggered street protests, the IMF and the European Union froze
aid, the leu currency plunged to record lows and inflation
climbed to double digits.
($1 = 17.0700 Moldovan lei)

 (Reporting by Alexander Tanas in Chisinau and Angel Krasimirov
in Sofia; editing by Matthias Williams and Jan Harvey)
 ((matthias.williams@thomsonreuters.com;))