None of the biggest claimants to the estate of the bankrupt Glitnir Bank want to remain in 95 percent possession of its successor, Islandsbanki. The Bank’s resolution committee has therefore put Islandsbanki up for sale and has hired Swiss bank UBS as advisor for the sale. The reported sale price is ISK 100 billion (USD 776.7 million).

The future work of the Glitnir resolution committee is the maximise returns on the bank’s assets and then collect and distribute the returns among creditors. The committee has already achieved good results, Visir.is reports; among other things by closing branches and daughter companies in ten countries; paying off the debts of the branches in most of those countries as it goes.

The committee has now decided to sell its 95 percent stake in Islandsbanki in Iceland, which it owns through its specially created daughter company, ISB Holding.

“We are enthusiastic to maximise the sale price of this asset as with all others. And we have hired a foreign adviser to oversee the future owners of Islandsbanki,” says Committee chairman Arni Tomasson. He confirmed that the foreign adviser is UBS Bank from Switzerland and that the sale will be carried out in co-operation with the Icelandic government, which holds five percent in Islandsbanki. IT is hoped the sale can be completed within three to five years.

“We estimate the worth of Islandsbanki to be in the region of 100 billion kronur for this 95 percent share,” Tomasson said. Glitnir creditors have no say in the day-to-day running of Islandsbanki and they have subsequently decided to sell up.