Austria: Schoenherr advises Erste Group on EUR 500m share buyback and capital reduction

After obtaining necessary authorisations from its shareholders in May 2024 and subsequently from the European Central Bank in June 2024, Erste Group repurchased 10,398,524 shares (ISIN AT0000652011) corresponding to EUR 500m during a five-month period on the market. Subsequently, Erste Group cancelled the respective treasury shares and, effective 17 December 2024, successfully completed the reduction of its share capital.

Schoenherr advised Erste Group on all corporate, capital markets and regulatory aspects of the transaction.

Founded in 1819 as the first Austrian savings bank, Erste Group went public in 1997 with a strategy to expand its retail business into Central and Eastern Europe. Since then, Erste Group has grown to become one of the largest financial services providers in the Eastern part of Europe in terms of clients and total assets. The shares of Erste Group are traded on the Vienna, Prague and Bucharest stock exchanges with a current market cap of EUR 24bln.

The Schoenherr advisory team was led by Sascha Schulz (partner), who was supported by Roland Misic (associate).