Commerzbank To Purchase Majority Stake In Bank Forum.

Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest lender, announced today that it had agreed to buy a 60%+1 stake in Ukraine’s 13th largest lender, Bank Forum (FORM: BUY) for USD 600 mln. Commerzbank also has the right to purchase another 25%.Alexander Viktorov: Thus far no Bank Forum officials have confirmed Commerzbank’s announcement, but we expect this along with more details on the sale from the bank shortly. Forum’s 1H07 book value of USD 196 mln implies a P/B ratio of 5 which compared deals involving other banks of Forum’s size looks quite fair. The deal implies a price per share of USD 8.9 a 10% premium to the current market price. We maintain a BUY recommendation and USD 10 target.