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RAPAPORT... Though financial details are being withheld, pending
regulatory approval, Belgium-based KBC Group reached an agreement to sell the Antwerp Diamond Bank
(ADB) — a top financier to the diamond industry — to the Shangai-based Yinren
Group.
Under the agreement, Yinren Group — a diversified enterprise
group with activities in real estate, international trade and the diamond
industry — will acquire 100 percent of KBC’s participation in ADB, which
accounts for virtually all (99.9 percent) of the bank's shares.
According to a KBC, the sale of ADB to Yinren will have
“only a negligible upfront impact” on the KBC’s group earnings.
Prior to formalizing the deal, part of ADB’s loan portfolio
— primarily the higher risk and non-performing loans with a net book value of
$546 million (EUR 400 million), will be transferred to KBC Bank N.V. and put in ordinary
run-down. After the deal is finalized, KBC will also provide funding to ADB
totaling $273 million (EUR 200 million) on a secured basis for a maximum period of two years.
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