PPF's merger proposal is in line with Moneta's interests - Moneta

Prague, Jan 29 (CTK) - Moneta Money Bank's board has arrived unanimously at the conclusion that the PPF group's invitation to hold talks concerning the acquisition of Air Bank and other companies from the PPF group is in harmony with the interests of Moneta and its shareholders, employees, depositors and other creditors, the bank said today.

Moneta received an invitation from billionaire Petr Kellner's PPF to launch negotiations about a potential merger with Air Bank, Home Credit in Czechia and Slovakia and Benxy, a firm running online platform for peer-to-peer loans Zonky, a week ago.

The potential merger of Moneta and Air Bank would give rise to the third biggest bank on the Czech market after Ceska sporitelna and CSOB in terms of client numbers.

Moneta shareholders are to decide on the proposal at a general meeting.

PPF has also made a voluntary tender offer to purchase part of Moneta shares in the amount of up to 20 percent from its existing shareholders. PPF stated it holds a 0.63 percent stake in Moneta.

The voluntary tender offer is addressed to all existing shareholders of Moneta. PPF is offering them Kc80 per share.

In a statement sent to CTK today, PPF said it welcomed Moneta's position to its proposal and was ready to start the talks. It also said it would provide Moneta with all information regarding the financial results of Air Bank, Home Credit Czechia and Slovakia and Benxy.

Taking into account advice received from J.P. Morgan, the Moneta board believes that the offer price of Kc80 is within the range of Moneta's value and is at 98.8 percent of the analysts' median target prices for Moneta shares, the Moneta board said.

Furthermore, the offered price represents 19.2 percent premium over the closing price as of January 22, 2021, the board added.

The potential combination with Air Bank and its affiliates could materially contribute to Moneta's balance sheet and particularly in areas considered as the most attractive in Moneta's strategy, including retail banking, according to the board.

Following the potential merger, Moneta could record a significant increase in mortgage loans exceeding 10 percent market share, unsecured consumer lending exceeding 20 percent market share as well as total deposits exceeding 10 percent market share in the Czech Republic, the board said.

Moneta shares traded around Kc73 apiece at the Prague Stock Exchange (BCPP) today.

Under PPF's proposal, the maximum volume of purchased shares would be 20 percent of the total nominal value (after counting in PPF's existing 0.63 percent shareholding in Moneta), with PPF's right to increase it up to 29 percent.

PPF invests in a number of sectors ranging from financial services to telecommunications, biotechnologies, real estate and engineering. It operates in Europe, Asia and the USA. it owns a majority stake in Czech telecommunication operator O2. Last year, it completed the acquisition of Central European Media Enterprises (CME), thus taking control over Czech commercial TV station Nova.

At the end of last June, it owned assets worth EUR44bn (about Kc1,150bn) and employed 98,000 people worldwide.

Moneta previously operated under the name of GE Money Bank. It was renamed in 2016 in relation to its listing on the Prague bourse. It is one of the biggest listings traded there.

Moneta Money Bank's net profit fell annually by 37.6 percent to about Kc1.9bn in Q1-Q3 2020, mainly owing to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

tam/er