Invalda INVL, the leading investment management and life insurance group in the Baltics, acquired a further 1.95% of the shares of Šiaulių Bankas from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). After the EUR 7.234 million transaction, the Invalda INVL group’s stake in Šiaulių Bankas grew to 9.999%. Invalda INVL conducted this second acquisition tranche, like the first one, through its wholly owned subsidiary INVL Life.
In December 2021, Invalda INVL signed an agreement with the EBRD to directly and/or indirectly acquire 5.87% of the shares of Šiaulių Bankas from the EBRD in separate tranches by the end of May 2024. In the first tranche, the Invalda INVL group acquired 1.96% of Šiaulių Bankas’s shares from the EBRD for EUR 7.459 million.
“We are increasing our shareholding in Šiaulių Bankas as per the terms of the agreement with the EBRD. Subject to the relevant approvals, the group’s equity stake in Šiaulių Bankas will grow even more after the anticipated merger of the retail businesses of Invalda INVL and Šiaulių Bankas at the end of this year,” says Darius Šulnis, the President of Invalda INVL.
Invalda INVL did not yet need regulatory approvals for the second tranche of its acquisition of Šiaulių Bankas shares from the EBRD, as the threshold of 10% of voting rights has not been exceeded. However, considering the retail business merger agreed with Šiaulių Bankas on 22 November 2022 and the 9.39% of the bank’s shares to be obtained in that transaction, Invalda INVL’s stake in the bank will rise to approximately 20%. Thus, regulatory approval to hold more than one-tenth of Šiaulių Bankas’ shares will be required, and a prefilling assessment procedure is currently underway.
About Invalda INVL
Invalda INVL is a leading Baltic investment management and life insurance group. Growing and developing with an open approach, it creates well-being for people through its work. The group’s companies operate across Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and serve over 300,000 private and institutional clients from the Baltic region and abroad. Those clients have entrusted the Invalda INVL group with the management of more than EUR 2 billion of assets in a variety of asset classes including pension funds, mutual funds and life insurance commitments as well as individual portfolios, private equity and other alternative investment activities.
The shares of Invalda INVL have been traded on the Nasdaq Vilnius stock exchange since 1995. Invalda INVL’s equity at the end of March 2023 was EUR 131.7 million.