Prague - General Electric seeks to raise as much as $922 million in an initial public offering of a majority stake in its Czech banking unit.
The US company is offering 260.6 million of existing shares, or 51 percent, of GE Money Bank AS at an indicative price of 68 koruna ($2.83) to 85 koruna apiece, the Czech lender said in a statement on Monday. A pricing at the top of the range would generate proceeds of 22.15 billion koruna and GE could sell as much as 15 percent more under an over-allotment option exercisable within 30 days after the stock starts trading in Prague.
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GE is divesting the unit as part of a year-old plan to sell most of its financial assets worldwide and focus on its industrial business. The bank’s listing would be a boost for the Prague Stock Exchange, where delistings and stock plunges have reduced the total market capitalisation to $24.9 billion from a peak of $86.7 billion in 2008, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The Czech lender also announced a change of its name to Moneta Money Bank AS. The company will start trading a day after the final pricing of the IPO, expected around May 5, according to the statement.
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