Dermot Desmond buys €300m stake in Latvian bank

eirebhoy

RIGA (Reuters) - Irish millionaire Dermot Desmond has bought one third of Rietumu Banka, Latvia's fourth biggest bank in terms of assets, the unlisted group said on Monday.

Reitumu said Desmond bought 33.1 percent from a small number of existing shareholders including one of the bank's founders, Tony Levin. No value for the purchase was given.

Rietumu Banka at the end of July had 726 million Latvian lats (704 million pounds) in assets and is roughly half the size of the Baltic state's biggest bank, Parex.

The total amount of deposits in July was 631 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 41 percent.

Desmond told a press conference in Riga that he bought into the bank because he was impressed with what his friend and the bank's chairman, fellow Irishman Michael J. Bourke, had done in developing the business.

"This opportunity came through one of my former colleagues and I like what he has done with the bank," Desmond said, adding he had no further plans to increase his stake in Reitumu or in additional holdings in any other banks.

A senior bank official said he would not comment on the value of the deal, but that it was significant in terms of the Latvian banking industry.

"We can say that it is probably the biggest amount invested in the Latvian banking sector in recent years," said Reitumu Vice President Aleksandrs Kalinovskis.

Reitumu has offices and branches throughout Latvia - one of the European Union's fastest growing economies - as well as offices across the Baltics, other former Soviet states and in Russia.

"I am impressed by Latvia's rapid pace of development and by its emergence as a financial centre for the region," the new shareholder said earlier in a statement.

Desmond, who is the biggest shareholder in Scottish soccer club Celtic, will join Rietumu's supervisory council.

No changes in the bank's management structures were planned, Rietumu said.

How many businesses does he run or have major shares in?

Latvian Bank
Betdaq
Celtic FC
London City Airport
...and a load more.

Dermot, you're 54, go and enjoy your life. You have enough for a few generations to come!

drdre

thats a good one, he is loaded.i would love to be like him