Banca Transilvania prepares to issue EUR 30 mln worth of bonds convertible into shares

Romanian lender Banca Transilvania plans a EUR 30 million bond issuance with a seven year deadline. Similarly to a previous issuance, the bonds can be converted into shares later on.

This is the second such issuance of bonds convertible into shares, after the USD 25 million one in 2005. Back then, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) subscribed to USD 20 million worth of bonds and later became shareholder in the bank, taking over 3.5 percent in Banca Transilvania in 2009.

The conversion price for bonds will be calculated based on the average shares price on the stock market three months prior to conversion. The date when the lender plans to launch the bonds issuance is yet to be announced. Banca Transilvania, with a stock market capitalization of some EUR 500 million on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, is controlled by EBRD – 14.6 percent, Bank of Cyprus, 9.6 percent. The investment funds SIFs hold packages of less than 5 percent, the same as the bank's president and founder Horia Ciorcila. Banca Transilvania ended the first six months of 2012 with a profit of EUR 40.9 million, 47 percent higher than in the same period in 2011. editor@romania-insider.com