Allied Irish Banks said today it had agreed to acquire a 49.99 per cent stake in specialist lender Bulgarian-American Credit Bank (BACB) for €216 million.
The Irish bank said it was buying the stake for cash from BACB's majority shareholder, the Bulgarian-American Enterprise Fund, and that the deal was subject to regulatory approval.
Sofia-based BACB was established in 1996 and listed on the Bulgarian stock exchange in March 2006. It provides secured finance to small and medium-sized companies in Bulgaria.
BACB has a BB/Stable/B rating from Standard & Poor's.
Earlier this week AIB posted a 13 per cent rise in underlying 2007 earnings, as expected, but said growth would slow to about a third of that rate in 2008 when a weaker Irish economy will curb lending.
