Main stake in Depfa for sale

THE main shareholder in Dublin-based German public sector finance specialist Depfa Bank Plc said yesterday it was selling its 40.8% stake after the bank posted a jump in third-quarter profit and raised its 2003 guidance.

IFSC-based Depfa Holding, which groups eight German and Swiss banks and insurers, said it would place its 14.4 million shares with institutional investors via an accelerated bookbuilding process led by Merrill Lynch.

At Monday’s closing price, the deal would be worth about €1.4 billion and if completed would make the bank the second-biggest member of the mid-cap MDAX index, measured by the value of its free-floating shares.