Milano, 21 April 2005

Today, Banca Intesa and the shareholders of Small Business Credit Bank (KMB) have signed a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of a 75% stake minus one share in KMB.

 

As at 31st December 2004, KMB had RRB 9.28 billion of assets (around USD 334 million), RRB 6.71 billion of customer loans (around USD 242 million) and RRB 897 million of shareholders’ equity (around USD 32 million). For the twelve months ended 31st December 2004, its net income amounted to RRB 102 million (around USD 4 million). KMB has over 50 branches and sub-branches in all the important cities of the Russian Federation and more then 35,000 clients.

 

Banca Intesa will pay a consideration of USD 90 million thus valuing the whole bank at USD 120 million or 3.7 times its book value.

 

Banca Intesa has also signed a shareholder agreement with EBRD (the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) which is one of the founding shareholders of KMB and will keep a 25% stake plus one share in the bank. The above-mentioned agreement includes a put-call option exercisable from 2010. The remaining shareholders, Soros Development Fund, Dutch foundation Triodos Doen and German development bank DEG, are selling their entire stakes considering their function in establishing the bank to support entrepreneurship in Russia satisfactorily performed and the bank’s business solidly supported with KMB becoming part of an international group.  

 

The finalisation of the transaction is expected to take place in the summer, following approval of relevant regulatory authorities.

 

The bank will be renamed Intesa KMB once the acquisition has been finalised.

 

KMB is the leading bank in the Russian Federation in lending and leasing to small enterprises, a business which Banca Intesa intends to further strengthen while developing individual segment   relationships.

 

Banca Intesa is already present in the Russian Federation with its Moscow Representative Office and ZAO Banca Intesa Moscow, the only Italian bank with an operating licence in Russia which was set up at the end of 2003 to assist Italian enterprises present in the area and all those interested in operating in this important market.

 

Banca Intesa thus takes a further step in the fulfilment of its strategy of growth in Central and Eastern Europe where the Group is already operational with Hungary’s fourth largest bank Central-European International Bank (CIB), Croatia’s second largest bank Privredna Banka Zagreb (PBZ) and Slovakia’s second largest bank Vseobecna Uverova Banka   (VUB) while the completion of the acquisitions of Delta Banka, the second largest bank in Serbia and Montenegro, and ABS Banka in Bosnia and Herzegovina is under way. The Group is also present in Austria with a Representative Office of its Italian subsidiary Banca di Trento e Bolzano, in the Czech Republic through a Vub branch, in Slovenia through its Italian subsidiary Banca Popolare FriulAdria’s operations and in Poland with its Warsaw Representative Office.

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