Global News: Albania Sells Off Savings Bank For $126m To Austria's RZB.(Brief Article)

Austria's Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) has expanded its role in central and eastern Europe with the 100% acquisition of Albania's largest bank, the Savings Bank of Albania. Following the failure of earlier attempts to privatise the bank, plans were announced by the government last September to sell it by tender and RZB paid $126m for all the bank, representing a 2.5 multiple of book value.

Albania, with a population of more than three million and a GDP per capita of $1565 in 2002, is an infant economy with a significantly under-banked market. Real GDP growth