Those who opted to sell their BCR shares to Erste Bank obtained a total of €130 million at the time, with a price per share of €6.5. Following the takeover offer of BCR by Erste at the end of last year, of a total of 63.4 million BCR shares owned by employees, 37.7 million were exchanged for Erste Bank shares, at an exchange rate of six to one. The 6.28 million Erste shares (1.3 percent of the bank’s capital), acquired by Romanian employees, were worth €360 million.

The new shareholders were given the opportunity to sell up to 50 percent of newly acquired shares back to Erste Bank, something that happened in the case of 34 percent.

Shares received from Austrian bank Erste in exchange for BCR shares, did not bring any gains to the Romanian bank’s employees. In fact, brokers estimate that BCR employees incurred losses deriving from the exchange rate difference, in the context of a 2006 average rate of RON 3.52 to the euro. About one year since the exchange of shares, the price of Erste shares on the Vienna Stock Exchange varies at some €57 per share, while at the time of the exchange a share was sold at €57.3. “Romanian employees who became Erste shareholders have now incurred losses, brought about by the difference in exchange rate. Each of them must follow the evolution of the euro-leu rate, which is now lower than in 2006,” advises Iulian Panait, President of consulting company KTD Invest. The Austrian bank’s shares were sold for €57.7 in Friday’s session, a yearly increase of just 0.7 percent.

Erste Bank is the first foreign company likely to be listed on BVB, an event that could take place by year-end, say stock market representatives. Erste Bank took over BCR in 2005, following a €3.75 billion transaction.

Stock 
The Austrian bank owns a 70 percent stake in BCR, while financial investment companies control the remaining 30 percent. BCR is the largest bank on the Romanian market, with total assets worth some €16 billion.