Preatoni buys Saules Banka

RIGA - Ernesto Preatoni, disdaining mortgages and
government-developed foreign investment in favor of private
entrepre-neurism added Latvia's Saules Bank to his portfolio where he
keeps businesses he controls as he talks other investors into taking
a share.

The Estonian bank Uhispank, holding shares of Saules bank, sold them
to one of Preatoni's holdings.

The bank's main business will not be lending money but attracting
money, while the bank's money will stay separate from other Preatoni
enterprises, Preatoni said at a press conference Dec. 20 when he
confirmed his purchase.

Preatoni sees three-pronged development for the bank: fund
management, real estate financing and attracting foreign investors.

"The private sector can always do it (attract foreign money) faster
than the public sector," he said.

The bank's name will change to include the Preatoni name as soon as
all the paperwork is set to go. The real estate entrepreneur already
owns a major stake in Preatoni Pank in Estonia.

While he plans to own banks in the three Baltic states, he has not
picked up a bank in Lithuania yet. He does not have sufficient
business activities in Lithuania to justify buying a banks yet, he
said.

Saules Banks was for sale, so he bought it, he said. One attraction
of Saules bank is that it already is licensed and in operation.

"It's much quicker than going through a new license to start another bank."

Saules bank has refused to reveal how much money changed hands in the
deal. To complete the transaction, Preatoni has to still get his
paperwork approved at Bank of Latvia.