CEE banking network Raiffeisen International
(RI) has announced it will merge with parent Raiffeisen Zentralbank
Österreich (RZB), in a move that may bolster the capital of RI’s
17-country leasing business.
The announcement was made at the same time as
RI, including subsidiary business Raiffeisen Leasing International
(RLI), revealed a major interannual profit decline.
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RI, which has increased market capitalisation
vastly in recent years, posted a pre-tax profit of €368 million for
2009, some 74.3 percent down on the previous year’s figure.
The new bank, which could emerge before the end of the year,
will have a similar structure to RZB, which currently owns 70
percent of RI. RI’s stock market listing would be inherited by the
combined group.
“A potential merger would definitely allow the
exploitation of certain synergies” said RLI managing director
Dieter Scheidl, with reference to the better access to capital and
equity markets that a combined bank would enjoy. “It could well
mean a lot more capital available to leasing.”
A full analysis of the potential impact of
the Raiffeisen merger on RLI’s business will appear in the next
issue of Leasing Life.
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