BAMC announced it had completed the sale of claims to the ACH conglomerate, including the management buyout vehicle Protej, sports goods make Elan, flag carrier Adria Airways and stockings maker Polzela.

An agreement on the sale was signed with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BAMC said without providing further details.

In line with the call for applications, the claims amounted to a total of EUR 123m. The bulk of that was to ACH, which owed EUR 105.4m. The claims to Elan amounted to EUR 14.3m, to Adria Airways EUR 6.3m and to Polzela EUR 1.82m.

Under the agreement, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has the option of acquiring an ownership share in Polzela held by BAMC, but not in Adria Airways, the privatisation of which is being managed by the Slovenia Sovereign Holding.

The BAMC said the sale represents the first deal concluded as part of the call to applications for over EUR 600m in claims published in early February.

The response was immense, with numerous international and domestic investors sending offers, BAMC said. Based on the indicative bids, the bad bank put together a package of four investments to sell.

Chairman of the BAMC management board Lars Nyberg expressed satisfaction with the sale. "Due to the work put in by BAMC in restructuring, the value of these assets has appreciated notably in the past 15 months. I'm especially happy with the way the ACH case has developed, as we have generated exceptional value added."

Nyberg praised the arrival of Bank of America Merrill Lynch to Slovenia in the role of an investor. "We are talking about a trustworthy and experienced partner with important financial strength."

CEO of BAMC Torbjörn Mansson assessed that the sale will contribute to implementing the bad bank's strategic goals. "We are convinced it will contribute to raising trust among investors and their readiness to do business in Slovenia."

The sale was concluded a day before a change in the BAMC management board, which will see Nyberg joined by Marko Simoneti, Imre Balogh and Janez Širovnik as non-executive directors in line with a decision taken by the government on 6 March.