Financial offers will be opened this week, added Vladescu, who is also the president of the BCR privatization commission. The tender participation documents of Dexia, Erste Bank, BNP Paribas, Banco Comercial Portugues, Deutsche Bank, National Bank of Greece and Banca Intesa were opened Tuesday at the headquarters of the Authority for the Recovery of State Assets (AVAS).
After the analysis of the offers the commission will apply the score grid and announce the best two offers with which final negotiations will start. In the selection criteria the price will have a 90 percent weight and the technical offer will represent ten percent.
According to sources from the banking environment quoted by Reuters, Intesa, Erste Bank and Deutsche Bank stand the best chances in the privatization of BCR. Analysts estimate the price of the BCR stock put on sale by the AVAS to be between 1.5 billion and three billion euros, which is three to five times the bookkeeping value of the Romanian bank. The high cost of the transaction determined some of the interested banks, such as Fortis, to withdraw from the bidding. The price could drive away other institutions, concerned about the dissatisfaction of their shareholders if they pay too much for BCR.
Italian Banca Intesa is considered an aggressive bidder who could try to make up for the lack of success in other tenders such as the sale of the Turkish bank, Garanti.
The investors of Erste Bank are hoping that the bank’s recent expansion plans in Eastern Europe could allow it to pay a high price for BCR.
The size of Deutsch Bank allows the financial institution to pay a high price to enter on the Romanian market, bankers believe. The strong economic relations between Germany and Romania would be another advantage in the case.
A surprise bidder could be PNB Paribas, an institution with a rather conservative acquisition policy.
AVAS has not set the deadline for the phase of the final binding improved offers, but according to sources close to the institution, three offers could be selected instead of two, if the offers are close, so that BCR is sold for the best possible price.
