ERSTE BANK’S SHARE offer in late January, lead managed by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, raised €2.6 billion, making it the biggest capital markets transaction ever in Austria. The capital was raised mainly to finance Erste Bank’s €3.7 billion acquisition of a 62% stake in Banca Comerciale Romana, the largest bank in Romania, in December.
Some analysts thought that investors might baulk at such a big offering, more than twice as big as the previous largest, the €1.1 billion IPO of Raiffeisen International in April 2005. But the deal did well, with the share price rising by 15% in the two weeks after the offer.
Following the issue, the bank and its CEO, Andreas Treichl, were the toast of Vienna. They had executed the biggest share offer on the Wiener Börse, to finance the biggest acquisition...
