PPF to own over 28 pct of Moneta Money Bank shares

Prague, March 11 (CTK) - Tanemo, a subsidiary of investment group PPF, has received acceptance confirmations assuming the purchase of 141,723,860 shares under its voluntary tender offer to buy Moneta Money Bank's stock, and it should own over 28 percent of Moneta's shares, once the transaction is settled, PPF told CTK today.

PPF is to pay Kc11.3bn for the shares in the voluntary buyout process, the group said.

The settlement is subject to terms of the voluntary tender offer published on February 8.

Legal entities submitted the most acceptance letters. Retail shareholders formed only 7 percent.

Almost 87 percent of the letters have come from foreign shareholders.

Tanemo offered Kc80 per Moneta share.

The publishing of the voluntary tender offer results confirms that PPF will easily raise its stake and probably control the first general meeting, Capitalinked.com analyst Radim Dohnal said.

Next steps will be entirely up to PPF and perhaps the Czech National Bank, he said.

The only thing unclear is whether PPF will want a squeeze-out or be happy trading, Dohnal added. Moneta's shares were losing 0.25 percent to Kc79 on the Prague Stock Exchange around 11:00.

Moneta should stay on the stock exchange and its shares should not be available only to large investors, PPF CFO Katerina Jiraskova said a few weeks ago.

If the transaction gets approved and the buyout takes place, PPF's stake will be at 50-60 percent, and the group considers it right to have such a liquid asset in its portfolio, which means traded in this case, she said. PPF said the information is still valid.

The settlement will be in two phases. Shares of up to 10 percent will be settled on March 24, and the second phase is subject to the Czech National Bank approval, with PPF submitting its request on February 24.

In early February, Moneta's board of directors unanimously decided that PPF's voluntary tender offer to purchase up to 20 percent of Moneta shares (with an option to raise the volume up to 29 percent) is in line with the interest of the bank and its shareholders.

A potential merger with PPF's Air Bank, Home Credit in Czechia and Slovakia and company Benxy (running online peer-to-peer loan platform Zonky) depends on a profound analysis and shareholders' approval.

Moneta received the merger proposal from Czech billionaire Petr Kellner's PPF on January 22.

The merger could create the third largest bank on the Czech market by client numbers, following Ceska sporitelna and CSOB.

Shareholders will make a decision at a general meeting.

PPF invests in a number of areas including financial services, telecommunications, real estate, engineering and biotechnology. At the end of last June, it owned assets worth EUR44bn (some Kc1.150bn) and employed 98,000 people worldwide.

Moneta Money Bank has had this name since 2016 when it changed it from GE Money Bank because of its listing on the Prague Stock Exchange. It is one of the largest listings on the bourse.

Moneta's net profit fell to Kc2.6bn in 2020 from Kc4bn in 2019, while operating revenues increased yr/yr by 15 percent to Kc12.1bn. The business result was affected by a higher cost of risk and lower revenues amid the coronavirus pandemic.

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