NLB shares admitted to the Ljubljana and the London Stock Exchange

15 November 2018

Yesterday 20,000,000 ordinary no-par value registered NLB d.d. shares with the ticker “NLBR” have been admitted to the Ljubljana Stock Exchange on the Prime Market - the most elite segment of the stock exchange. At the same time, the Global Depository Receipts representing the NLB d.d. shares have been admitted to trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange for listed securities with the ticker “NLB”.

The admission of the shares to the stock exchange marks the successful completion of the public offering of NLB shares. The Bank’s ownership is now quite dispersed and the state retained a controlling share. In the public offering procedure, the state sold 11,818,181 or 59.1% of all NLB shares at the price of EUR 51.5. With the enforcement of a special stabilisation option, the share can grow up to 65% and the proceeds for the state to EUR 669.5 million.

The trading of Nova Ljubljanska banka shares at the Ljubljana Stock Exchange started at 9.15 yesterday with the solemn ringing of bells at the start of trading.

As emphasised by the State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Metod Dragonja, Slovenia thereby met the first and most important part of the commitments made to the European Commission, related to the granting of state aid in 2013. “Slovenia has clearly shown that it respected the commitments it made. The credibility that the state thus obtained will have a positive contribution to the credit rating of the state and the Bank,” he underlined.

The President of the Management Board of SDH Lidia Glavina announced that they would continue with the sale of the rest of the shares up to 75% minus one share until the end of 2019, according to the Strategy of State Equity Investment Management. She added that the Republic of Slovenia remains the largest individual shareholder of the NLB which will continue to represent an important part of the financial pillar of equity investments managed by SDH.

“SDH supports the set strategy of the NLB’s development and expects the NLB as the mostly privately owned company to create value for its stakeholders; in this process, a quality and dispersed ownership structure could positively contribute to further development and stability of the Bank.”

“The Ljubljana Stock Exchange welcomed Nova Ljubljanska banka among the most elite Slovenian public companies with great optimism. Its arrival indicates that the Slovenian market is lively and welcomes high-quality companies to invest in. Interest is shown by both institutional and private investors. Only by admitting such strategic shares into the trading on the market can we expect the revival of the market,” said Aleš Ipavec, MSc, President of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange at this occasion.

“We congratulate NLB on its start of trading on London Stock Exchange yesterday. Yesterday’s listing in London, the first by a Slovenian company, is a significant milestone. The IPO of NLB as part of Slovenia’s privatisation programme underlines London’s position as the leading global venue and partner for international issuers and, particularly for banks, providing them with access to deep and liquid pools of investor capital,” said the CEO of the London Stock Exchange Nikhil Rathi.

“The NLB’s brains and heart remain in Ljubljana,” said Blaž Brodnjak, President of the Management Board of NLB at the event which took place yesterday at the stock exchange.  With the admission to the stock exchange and the change of the NLB into a public-owned company with dispersed ownership composed of the state as the largest and some other renowned global investors, and with a mostly long-term view on the development of the Bank’s value, there will be no more restrictions for cross-border operations and some price limitations. I believe that with the new ownership the Bank will be able to develop in terms of corporate governance and freedom of operations. “This is a great privilege and a great responsibility,” Brodnjak assessed and said that yesterday was the most important day in the Bank’s history.

Brodnjak also added that after the rehabilitation the Bank, as well as the entire Slovenian banking system, which he described as exemplary, was in a very good shape and that the Bank was an important system institution in further five countries, in addition to Slovenia. According to him, the Bank’s ambitions in the regions where it operates remain high also in the future. The NLB operates on the markets of Serbia, Montenegro, BiH, Kosovo and Macedonia and will compete for the title of regional champion. As s system-significant company with excellent knowledge of the history, culture and mentality on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, the Bank had great potential, added Brodnjak.

"We will act prudently, pursue long-term goals and ensure economic stability," concluded Brodnjak. 

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