Zivkovic Samardzic, working with Milbank, has advised the shareholders of Eurobank Direktna Beograd on its sale to AIK Banka Beograd. Schoenherr and Holman Fenwick Willan advised AIK Banka.
The transaction remains contingent on regulatory approval. Closing is expected in 2023.
According to Zivkovic Samardzic, “Eurobank Direktna is headquartered in Belgrade and operates through four primary segments: retail banking, corporate banking, small business banking, and digital banking, and holds a market share of 6% in terms of total assets. It currently employs approximately 1,600 employees, operates 98 branches, and has a balance sheet size of EUR 2.4 billion. Eurobank Direktna [was] majority owned by Eurobank Holdings (70%) and former Direktna Banka shareholders (30%).”
According to Schoenherr, “the combination of AIK Banka and Eurobank Direktna will create the second-largest banking operation in the country,” with Zivkovic Samardzic reporting that “the combined bank would have attained an over 13% market share in total assets, with over EUR 4 billion in deposits and a strong capital base of more than EUR 800 million (as of September 2022).”
Zivkovic Samardzic, Milbank, and, reportedly, Schoenherr had also advised on the merger of Eurobank with Direktna Banka two years prior (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on July 13, 2021).
The Zivkovic Samardzic team included Partners Branislav Zivkovic, Igor Zivkovski, Sava Pavlovic, and Uros Djordjevic.
The Schoenherr Serbian office of Moravcevic Vojnovic and Partners team included Partners Matija Vojnovic, Vojimir Kurtic, and Dusan Obradovic.
Editor's Note: After this article was published, Kinstellar announced it had advised AIK Banka on the competition law aspects of the EUR 280 million acquisition. The firm's team was led by Special Counsel Olga Sipka and Senior Associate Aleksandra Stecuk.
