MADRID, Reuters – Spain’s Caixabank stated Thursday that it is considering the sale of its 9.92% share in Erste Group Bank, an Austrian lender.

According to Refinitiv data, the stake currently has a market value around 1.65 billion euro ($1.92 billion). This includes 429.8m outstanding shares by Austrian lenders and Thursday’s closing share price of 38.76 Euros per share.

Based on Erste’s September 30 share price, the lender stated that a full disposition of Erste’s stake would not impact its bottom line. It would also have a positive effect on Erste’s core Tier-1 ratio by 15 basis points.

Caixabank closed in March the Bankia acquisition. It is now trying to meet stricter solvency standards. Regulators are requesting banks to concentrate on core banking activities.

Caixabank has a 5.42 percent unhedged interest in EBS. This could be sold to pre-identified purchasers.

Caixabank said that it had been considering settling equity swaps to resolve a 4.5% share of its stake. It did this by selling the shares to other equity swaps counterparties.

Caixabank stated that Erste Bank’s complete divestment would depend ultimately on market conditions.

($1 = 0.8596 euros)