Austria’s Addiko Bank (ADKO.VI) has publicly endorsed the takeover bid from Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) (RBIV.VI), despite a higher rival offer from Slovenia’s Nova Ljubljanska banka (NLB) (NLBR.LJ). The decision, announced on Wednesday, sees Addiko Bank favouring a more certain payout for its shareholders over the larger per-share sum offered by NLB. This move is a significant development in the competitive landscape surrounding the Austrian lender.
NLB’s proposal stands at €29 per share, which equates to a total valuation of €566 million for Addiko. In contrast, RBI’s offer is set at €26.50 per share. RBI had previously increased its bid this month from an initial €23.05 per share, reflecting the escalating interest in acquiring Addiko Bank. While Addiko stopped short of issuing an explicit recommendation or discouragement for its shareholders to sell their shares to NLB, the bank outlined clear justifications for its support of the RBI offer.
Addiko pointed to what it described as a lack of firm pledges of support from major NLB investors, suggesting potential instability in the rival bid. Furthermore, Addiko highlighted that NLB was reportedly facing significant regulatory hurdles in Croatia, an obstacle that could complicate the successful completion of its takeover attempt and impact the overall certainty of the transaction. Both competing takeover offers are subject to an initial 75% acceptance threshold from Addiko shareholders, although this condition retains the flexibility to be lowered to 50% by the respective bidders if deemed necessary. Both bids are currently scheduled to remain open for acceptance until July 22. This endorsement by Addiko Bank underscores the strategic considerations at play beyond just the headline share price, with the emphasis firmly placed on the perceived reliability and execution certainty of the acquisition process.
