With a notice published on the corporate website (www.popolarebari.it, section "THE GROUP - Investor Relations - For Shareholders - Transformation SpA Assembly") as well as with the other methods envisaged by current legislation, the Banca Popolare di Bari, the largest bank in the South, has convened for 10 December 2016 on first call and, if necessary, for 11 December 2016 on second call to resolve on the proposed transformation of the Bank into a joint-stock company, as well as the proposal for a proxy to increase the share capital of the same.
The transformation into a joint stock company, with the consequent overcoming of the per capita vote envisaged by the Popolari reform, and the capital increase are two crucial steps for the development of the Bank which has recently expanded beyond the traditional borders with the purchase , supported by the Bank of Italy, of Tercas where he created his presence in Abruzzo.
But these are not the only news coming from the institute controlled by the Iacobini family, third generation bankers.
The transformation of the Bank into a joint-stock company entails the right of withdrawal for those who will not contribute to the approval of the relative resolution, pursuant to article 2437 of the civil code and in this regard the Bank has renounced the devaluation of the shares, also to cool down the tensions that some shareholders had raised in relation to the difficulties in selling the Bank's securities due to the temporary difficulties of the market for unlisted bank shares.
In this regard, Banca Popolare di Bari announces that the liquidation value of the Bank's shares subject to withdrawal has been determined as a unit measure of Euro 7,50 per Banca Popolare di Bari share and that this value has been defined by the Board of Directors in compliance with the provisions of article 2437-ter of the civil code, with the support of two independent financial advisors (Prof. Enrico Laghi and Deloitte Financial Advisory Srl). In essence, the value of the shares remains unchanged at the levels of last spring when it was devalued by just over 20% against an average drop in bank shares listed on the Stock Exchange of 48% since the beginning of the year.
However, the Board of Directors has decided to exercise its legal prerogatives by ordering the limitation, in full and without time limits, of the right to reimbursement with the Bank's own funds. Consequently, no liquidation can take place for the shares of the withdrawing shareholders not purchased during the option or from the market. However, the Bank has said it is willing to help shareholders in difficulty to promote greater liquidity of the stock and is evaluating the possibility of creating a secondary stock exchange where the stock can be exchanged. "The Bank - say the top management of the Bari bank - has always based its organization and its processes on compliance with sector regulations, in particular those protecting investors and its customers" and is convinced that the difficulties in liquidating securities are temporary and do not depend on the bank, "which has solid assets and quality assets" but on the current phase of the bank securities market and in particular those not listed on the Stock Exchange.
