Greek-owned Vista Bank in Romania takes over local leasing arm of Alpha Group

Vista Bank, which has been owned since 2018 by the Vardinogiannis Group of Greece, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Southeastern Europe, announced the acquisition of Alpha Leasing Romania from Alpha Bank and Alpha International Holdings.

Alpha Leasing also owns 100% of Alpha Insurance Brokerage Romania.

The transaction, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.

Vista Bank, with a focus on mid-sized companies and wealthy individuals, operates a network of 35 branches and 5 business centers, providing a full range of products and services to corporate clients, professional farmers, as well as individual clients with above-average and high incomes.

“The acquisition of Alpha Leasing Romania represents another milestone for Vista Bank and is in alignment with our strategy to further increase and consolidate our position as a Group in the market,” said Vista Bank’s CEO Georgios Athanasopoulos, quoted by Economedia.ro.

Vista Bank was up in 1998 by the joint venture between BNP Paribas and Dresdner Bank, under the name BNP - Dresdner Bank Romania and it subsequently changed its name upon repeated mergers with Greek lenders until eventually being taken over by Greek family Vardinogiannis which changed its name in 2019 to Vista under a broader consolidation process.

The bank was acquired in 2000 by Egnatia Bank and renamed Egnatia Bank Romania. Its name changed again in 2008 to Marfin Bank (Romania) after the triple merger of Marfin Bank, Egnatia Bank, and Laiki Bank. In 2021, it took over Credit Agricole’s local branch.

(Photo source:Sergiy Palamarchuk/Dreamstime.com)