The second largest Slovenian bank, which wants to wrap up the sale by the end of the year and use the proceeds to improve its capital adequacy ratio, said it would now examine the bids and enter negotiations with a selected bidder.

The daily Dnevnik reported today that Sava Re, which already holds a 49% stake in what is Slovenia's no. 2 insurer, is offering around EUR 60m or about 10% more than in its initial non-binding offer.

Grawe reportedly slightly lowered its original offer of EUR 70m after completing due diligence and is allegedly also making its bid conditional on acquiring at least a 75% stake.

This would include some of the shares held by Sava Re, which the reinsurer is however not ready to accept, Dnevnik said.

Sava Re said on Wednesday it planned to finance the acquisition with own funds and with the help of a capital increase. It feels that there is interest among foreign and domestic investors for participation in the capital rise.

KD Group meanwhile said it had only submitted a non-binding offer because due diligence did not provide it with enough information for a binding bid. It proposed that the deadline for binding bids be extended so that all relevant data can be collected.