Computershare acquires control of German bank

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Computershare acquires control of German bank

Computershare today announced it has taken control of the German corporate bank VEM Aktienbank.

The share registry company added 30.2% of the bank’s shares to its previous 8% share, acquiring them from VEM’s managing directors and founders, for a price of €6.25 per share. This gives the total bank a value of €60 million.

Further to this, Computershare has been given an irrevocable agreement from shareholders currently in possession of 8.6% of the bank’s shares to sell their stake for the same price.

The bank currently has options to acquire 3.2% of its own shares, though Computershare are also interested in adding those to its already substantial stake.

The firm has also made an open offer to purchase any other shares whose holders wish to sell for the same price.

Competition law approval will be required to sanction the takeover bid.

Computershare described the move as an important step in improving the firm’s capability to provide access to the Clearstream clearing and settlement infrastructure, which will allow the firm to offer its customers easy access to the European market for financial products.