Croatian Post Bank Acquires Adriatic Bank

Adriatic Bank has a new owner. Zdravko Marić, the Minister of Finance, Marija Hrebac, the head of the State Agency for Deposit Insurance and Bank Rehabilitation, and Tomislav Vujić, the CEO of Croatian Post Bank, signed the contract for the sale of shares of Jaba on Wednesday. With this contract, HPB becomes the owner of all shares of the troubled bank.

After acquiring the shares of Jaba, HPB will recapitalize the bank with 110 million kuna. As stated at the press conference, HPB will do this with its own funds.

>>>HPB’s General Assembly Approved the Acquisition of Adriatic Bank

– The purchase of Jaba is extremely important for HPB, not only as a stronger step in Dalmatia but also as a sign that we are ready and capable of taking over other banks and strengthening the bank’s position – said Vujić.

Minister Marić emphasized that this was a successful rehabilitation process for which taxpayers did not contribute a single kuna.

– Croatia is a leader in implementing rehabilitation in the category of small banks under the new model and European regulations. This is a great recognition for DAB. The bank was rehabilitated without burdening taxpayers. The bad part of the bank was separated. The Bank Rehabilitation Fund participated in the costs. By activating this mechanism, we ensured the protection of taxpayers’ interests – said Marić.

>>>Interested in purchasing HPB conducts in-depth analysis of Adriatic Bank’s operations

– With the signing of this contract, we are concluding a two-year rehabilitation process of Adriatic Bank. During this period, we rehabilitated a credit institution under the new regulations, which was not rehabilitated by taxpayers but by shareholders and co-owners. Jaba did not fail, and we kept it alive and are handing it over to a serious player in our market, allowing it to continue its operations – said Hrebac.

This contract, or takeover, still needs to be approved by the Council of the Croatian National Bank, which is expected soon, especially since Governor Vujčić’s term is expiring.