OTP Bank Romania to take over Banca Romaneasca from National Bank of Greece

The National Bank of Greece signed an agreement with OTP Bank Romania on the sale of its equity holding of 99.28 per cent in Banca Romaneasca. The transaction involves the shares in Banca Romaneasca (BROM) held by the National Bank of Greece (NBG - a commercial entity), as well as the purchase of additional exposures in Romania belonging to other subsidiaries of NBG.

2017-07-27 11:29:44

The officials from National Bank of Greece and OTP Bank Romania signed the agreement on the sales of Banca Romaneasca. The completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the supervisory authorities.

As a result of the completion of the acquisition, the market share of OTP Bank Romania (OBR) will rise roughly to four per cent, thereby becoming the 8th largest actor in the Romanian banking market (based on figures from 2016). Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking acted as Sole Financial Advisor to OTP Group in relation to the transaction.

Laszlo Wolf, Deputy CEO of OTP Bank's Commercial Banking Division, said: "This transaction is a huge step towards achieving OTP Group's strategic goals. Our acquisition strategy primarily focuses on markets with good growth prospects, and where it considers it realistic to reach an optimal market size and capitalise on cost synergies. This agreement is an important milestone in the development of OTP Bank Romania. We work with my colleagues to ensure that the merger has a positive outcome for the customers of both banks."

Based on its balance sheet total at end of 2016, Banca Romaneasca is the 14th largest bank of Romania with a market share of roughly 1.62 per cent, being active both in the retail and the corporate segments as a universal bank.

OTP Bank Romania is the subsidiary of OTP Bank, at the same time being the member of the largest Central and Eastern European banking group - a financial service provider operating from integrated and own funds. Its presence in Romania dates back to 2004. At present, it is the eleventh largest bank in the country.