Serbia's AIK Banka a.d. Beograd increased its stake in Slovenian lender Gorenjska banka dd Kranj to 90.1% from 77.7% following the completion of a takeover bid, SEENews reported March 18, citing public broadcaster RTV Slovenia.

AIK Banka launched the takeover bid in February, offering to pay Gorenjska minority shareholders €298 for each of the 86,611 outstanding shares, with 292 Gorenjska shareholders accepting the offer, the news report noted.

AIK Banka's acquisition bid for Gorenjska has been in the pipeline since 2017, but the deal fell through in January 2018 when regulators revoked its takeover permit after discovering irregularities in the Serbian bank's operations. AIK subsequently resolved the irregularities and was granted permission to take control of the Slovenian lender.