COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Iceland on Monday took the first step to curb the state’s ownership of the banking sector, selling 35% of shares in Islandsbanki in an initial public offering that will value the lender at around 150 billion Icelandic crowns ($1.24 billion).
The state will on Monday at 0900 GMT offer 636.4 million shares with an indicative price range at between 71 and 79 Icelandic crowns, with the offer period expected to close June 15, the bank said in a statement.
Islandsbanki, formerly Glitnir, was one of the three lenders that failed within days of each other in 2008, prompting a state takeover that resulted in the restructuring of existing banks and the creation of new ones.
Shares in Islandsbanki will be offered to institutional and retail investors in Iceland as well as through a private placement to certain foreign institutional investors, it said. Shares will be traded on Nasdaq Iceland.
Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Barclays, HSBC, Fossar, Landsbankinn and Islandsbanki itself are acting as joint bookrunners of the IPO.
($1 = 120.8500 Icelandic Crowns)
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, editing by Louise Heavens)
