Bulgarias Central Co-operative Bank (CCB) submitted the best offer for buying a 66.67-per-cent share in Macedonias Post Bank, Bulgarian Dnevnik daily reported on October 9.
The announcement was made at a news conference in Skopje, attended by Macedonian media, Dnevnik said.
The offer submitted by CCB, which is owned by the Bulgarian holding structure Chimimport, has been selected as the best one by the consultant on the sale Deloitte & Touche. Although the exact buying price proposed by CCB was not revealed, it was said to be the best among a total of six offers that made it to the final stage of the tender.
To finalise the deal, which is expected to happen by the end of this year, CCB will only have to acquire the permission of the Macedonian central bank and the countrys regulatory bodies, and win the consent of the government in Skopje, which holds a golden share in Post Bank. The golden share gives it the power to block any important decision on the banks structure, capital and others.
Macedonian media said the current majority holder of the local Post Bank Eurostandard Bank had chosen Deloitte to select the best buyer for its share.
The remaining 33.33 per cent are held by state-owned Macedonian Posts. Deloitte sent inquiries to 18 banks in European Union countries, and only eight of them responded. Offers were submitted by just six of the initial eight candidates, and the best was the one by CCB.
The Macedonian banking market was considered attractive to CCB because of its potential for development and its close proximity to Bulgaria.
