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Austria"s Erste bank and two savings banks are competing to acquire Hypo Group Alpe - Adria, a bank whose owner is already discussing an offer from Bayern LB - Germany, Reuters reports. Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen, the second largest bank in Austria, and Kaerntner Sparkasse ?i Steiermaerkische Bank und Sparkasse on Monday announced the Hypo shareholders that they were interested in acquiring a majority stake.
On Monday morning, the Province of Carinthia increased to 1.6 billion EUR (2.2 billion USD) the target price for the 50% stake targeted by Bayern LB, from the original 1.5 billion EUR. Carinthia"s rightist leader Joerg Haider told a press conference in the capital of Klagenfurt that he was ready to cancel the bidding if Bayern disagreed with this price, Reuters reports.
According to Haider, the bank is worth some 3.2 billion EUR in total. Carinthia holds 45% in Hypo and is prepared to sell all of it. Another shareholder, Grazer Wechselseitige, holds 41.5% and is willing to sell 16%.
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