Austrian bank Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB), which owns Raiffeisen Leasing, has said it may buy leasing business assets from Volksbanken AG, according to a report from Reuters.
The sale would constitute a contribution to the bailout of Volksbanken, following a 43% buyout by the Austrian state last April. Part of that deal included a requirement that Volksbanken sell its 50% stake in subsidiary Volksbanken Leasing (VB Leasing) by 2014.
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A Volksbanken spokesperson said talks concerning the future of the bank were continuing while a spokesperson for RZB confirmed negotiations were underway for an "asset pool that includes assets of VB Leasing".
To meet the European Commission’s regulatory requirements, Volksbanken has to cut its balance sheet by 10bn and to sell its 51% stake in a Romanian banking subsidiary as well as its leasing subsidiary. One possibility would have been to sell its 5% stake in RZB back to the bank, but talks broke down. RZB is not the only company having to assist Volksbanken, with shareholders including the German bank DZ having already added capital.
The initial bailout occurred in April 2012, with a 1.25bn capital injection and 3bn in liquidity guarantees.
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