Maribor/Ljubljana, 05 April (STA) - John Denhof, the chairman of the NKBM bank, has announced that he will step down at the end of the year, when his current term expires. In the meantime, he will manage the ongoing merger of the bank with SKB Banka, while the Hungarian owner, OTP Group, will be looking for a new chairman of the merged bank.
The merger of the smaller, Ljubljana-based SKB Banka with the larger, Maribor-based bank is planned for this autumn, with the new bank to operate under the name OTP Banka, after the group that ownes it.
"The merger is taking place in line with the expectations and the set timeline," NKBM told the STA on Friday as it announced the withdrawal of Denhof as the chairman.
The official reason for the decision provided by the bank is the "wish to take up new professional and personal challenges".
Denhof said that NKBM was in excellent shape, as it had achieved the best financial results in history in 2023, adding that this was an excellent moment for the merger with SKB Banka.
He said that now was the right time to prepare for his peaceful and transparent departure, adding that he fully trusted the board of the future merged bank.
The Hungarian OTP Group, which has taken over the two banks in the past five years, is meanwhile looking for the new chairman of the merged bank, with the final decision most likely to be taken in June.
It was the online business newspaper Finance that first reported about the change at the helm of the merged bank. It said that Denhof's decision was quite surprising, as the American had been expected to also head OTB Banka.
According to Finance, Denhof will stay in Slovenia and run a consulting business after leaving NKBM.
