Ljubljana, 14 February (STA) - Skupina Prva, a regional insurance group, has received clearance from Banka Slovenije for the acquisition of up to a third of shares in DBS, a small private bank with an expansive network of offices. Skupina Prva and its Slovenian arm Prva osebna zavarovalnica bought a 25% stake in DBS in mid-January.
The central bank gave the permission on Monday for Prva osebna zavarovalnica and its parent companies to get an ownership share of up to one third of shares in DBS.
Skupina Prva and Prva osebna zavarovalnica signed the contract on the purchase of 9.9% and 15.1% shares under suspensive conditions, pending the approval from the Competition Protection Agency.
The two companies submitted their bid on 23 January and the Competition Protection Agency has not decided on it yet, according to the agency's website.
Prva osebna zavarovalnica said that it had decided to enter DBS because it wanted to expand its operations on the financial services market. Total assets of Prva and DBS will stand at some EUR 2bn, the company said.