VALLETTA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Malta's National Development and Social Fund (NDSF) has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire a 49.1 percent stake in Lombard Bank.
The fund is an independent government agency tasked with administering 70 percent of the proceeds from the Individual Investor Program (IIP), which is known as Malta's cash-for-citizenship scheme.
It said in a statement on Friday afternoon that the NDSF would be acquiring 21,651,746 ordinary shares from Cyprus Popular Bank Public Co Ltd.
"The NDSF board confirm that all conditions contained in the above-mentioned agreement, including the approval of the Malta Financial Services Authority and the European Central Bank, for the acquisition of the shareholding in the bank by the Fund, have been satisfied and accordingly, the transfer of said shares has taken place earlier today by means of an off-exchange transfer at the Malta Stock Exchange," the fund said in a statement.
The bank's board of governors were informed about the transfer on Friday.
The NDSF reaffirmed that it has no intention to increase its shareholding in the bank and that it will not be acting in concert with any other shareholders.
It also said that it would be seeking to reduce its shareholding in the bank in an orderly manner, at the right market conditions and by agreement with the regulatory authorities.
Furthermore, the NDSF said it had no intention of exerting any influence on the operations of the bank and that it intended for the acquisition not to result in a change in control of the bank.
In March 2013, Cyprus Popular Bank was placed in resolution, kicking off a process to dispose of certain assets including its shareholding in Lombard Bank Malta.
