Well-rooted in Vienna since its founding in 1819, Erste Bank started to extend its sphere of influence beyond the Austrian capital as early as the 1980s and increasingly since 1991 by merging with several regional savings banks in the country.
In 1993, Erste Bank's operating business was spun off into a joint stock company. With acquisition of GiroCredit in March 1997, Erste advanced to become Austria's second-largest banking group.
Erste Bank’s initial public offering was realized through a listing on the Vienna Stock Exchange on 4 December 1997 with a volume of more than 7 billion Austrian schillings (ca. 508 million euros). This marked the largest share issue in Austrian stock market history up to that time. To this day, Erste Group remains a heavyweight in the Vienna exchange’s blue-chip ATX index.
Erste’s decision to go public also made possible its expansion across the region of Central and Eastern Europe, where Erste Group now has core markets in 7 countries and maintains an indirect presence in a further 5 countries.
“Erste’s IPO 25 years ago laid the foundation for a success story. Erste took the right step and raised capital through the stock exchange for major acquisitions in the 2000’s. Thanks to this expansion, Erste Group has advanced to become the leading banking group in the eastern part of the EU”
Willi Cernko, CEO of Erste Group Bank AG
Here are some selected key figures to illustrate how Erste Group has grown over the past 25 years:
Stefan Dörfler, Erste Group’s CFO, discusses the banking group's stakeholder orientation as a listed company in an Austria Stock Talk video from the Vienna Stock Exchange.
Sonderbeilage der Zeitschrift "Trend" zu 25 Jahre Börsengang
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the first listing of Erste shares, the Austrian magazine “Trend” published a special supplement [available only in German] detailing the story behind the IPO, addressing the opportunities and challenges for the capital market in Austria, and outlining the future prospects for Erste Group.