Croatia: Erste Offer Rejected

People ♦ Published: December 13, 2013; 11:38 ♦ (Vindobona)

Austrian Erste Group intended to aquire Croatian HPB. However, the offer was rejected by the Finance Ministry as the purchase price was considered too low.

Croatia: Erste Offer Rejected / Picture: © Erste Group / Helmut Lackner

In spite of the former Yugoslavian country being in dire need of further capital, the Croatian Finance Ministry rejected the offer of HRK 789m (€ 103m) for Hrvatska Postanska Banka (HPB) by Erste Group. The country intended using the revenues to decrease the budget deficit.

In October, Erste Group placed an offer without commitment. However, on Thursday Slavko Linic, Croatian…