AIK, which reportedly holds 33.82% of Gorenjska Banka at the moment, issued the first takeover attempt in mid-December 2017 but failed to get the approval of the Slovenian central bank in time to follow through.

The approval was issued in November 2018, but AIK needed to wait until a year after the initial takeover attempt was published.

The Serbian bank now has the green light to increase its stake in Gorenjska Banka from all relevant regulators: the Slovenian and Serbian central banks, as well as competition watchdogs in both countries.

The bank, controlled by Serbian businessman Miodrag Kostić, who has also been acquiring hotels along the Slovenian coast, has already worked out a deal to acquire 37.6% of Gorenjska Banka stock owned by the conglomerate Sava. The EUR 43m, which amounts to EUR 298 per share, was deposited into a fiduciary account in June.

Until recently, AIK held only 32.9% in Gorenjska Banka. Newsportal Siol reported on Friday that AIK had exceeded the takeover threshold by buying additional stock in the past few days, increasing its stake to 33.82%, which means that it might get fined by the Slovenian Securities Market Agency.