The first evaluation of the Central Depository: €21 mln

The 4.53 million shares are for sale at a minimum price of RON 0.41 (some €0,096) per unit. Thus, the value of the institution amounts to RON 89.36 mln (€21 mln). This is the first evaluation of the Central Depository (CD) since it was founded in 2007. For comparison, BVB, CD’s main shareholder, is worth €81.4 million, according to the latest share sale offers.

“The shares came from the canceled shares of some ineligible shareholders, but the price was set based on two assessments made by two auditors in Big Four (Ed.n.- PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, KPMG, and Ernst&Young),” CD’s General Manager, Adriana Tanasoiu, said.

The minimum package that can be acquired is of 10,000 shares. “We have just announced the offer and already potential buyers started to call. The shares can be acquired by any eligible shareholder,” the official added.

The Central Depository announced yesterday that it signed a memorandum with the banking system including the European Central Bank and the 16 central banks in the euro zone, following which CD will participate in the Target2 Securities platform, for euro settlements.

“The contract is to be negotiated and will be signed in the first half of 2010. The platform will become functional as of 2013, and we connect ourselves to this platform because Romania is expected to adopt the euro in 2014. Moreover, Romania is the only non-euro country in Southeastern Europe that signed this memorandum, which will help us to expend regionally,” Tanasoiu added.

CD budgeted RON 167,785 (some €39.34) in gross profit for 2009, down over 19 times compared to the RON 3.2 mln level in 2008.