Bulletin: Slovenia-Based Nova Ljubljanska Banka Rating And Outlook Unaffected By Halt To IPO Plan

FRANKFURT (S&P Global Ratings) June 9, 2017--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings and outlook on Slovenia-based Nova Ljubljanska Banka D.D. (NLB; BB/Positive/B) are not immediately affected by the government's announcement that it intends to withdraw its plans to tender at least 50% of its ownership stake in the bank via an IPO. We understand from the government's announcement that the potential offer price of the initial 50% stake is too low to go ahead with the IPO. In 2013, following the European Commission's approval of state aid, NLB became fully government owned. The Slovenian government had injected roughly €1.6 billion to recapitalize NLB, and about €2.3 billion of bad loans were transferred to state-owned loan workout entity Bank

...FRANKFURT (S&P Global Ratings) June 9, 2017--S&P Global Ratings said today that its ratings and outlook on Slovenia-based Nova Ljubljanska Banka D.D. (NLB; ##/Positive/B) are not immediately affected by the government's announcement that it intends to withdraw its plans to tender at least 50% of its ownership stake in the bank via an IPO. We understand from the government's announcement that the potential offer price of the initial 50% stake is too low to go ahead with the IPO. In 2013, following the European Commission's approval of state aid, NLB became fully government owned. The Slovenian government had injected roughly 1.6 billion to recapitalize NLB, and about 2.3 billion of bad loans were transferred to state-owned loan workout entity Bank Asset Management Company. The European Commission has stated that the government must reduce its stake in NLB by at least 50% in 2017, and by a further 25% less one share by year-end 2018, to avoid a forced sale of NLB's six core foreign subsidiaries...

Bulletin