Wealthy Romanian entrepreneur and former tennis player Ion Tiriac recently sold its 45 percent stake in lender UniCredit Tiriac Bank to the majority owner of the bank, the Italian group UniCredit. This was part of the exit options agreed by the shareholders, according to Mediafax, which quoted banking sources. Neither Tiriac, nor the bank commented and/or officially confirmed the deal.

The deal was first mentioned by the Italian publication Messaggero, which says the transaction could be closed in a week, and carried out until Christmas this year. The value of the deal is of some EUR 700 million, according to the Italian publication, which would make this the largest bank transaction in Romania after the financial crisis.

Tiriac owns his stake in the bank via two companies, Redrum International Investments B.V and Vesanio Trading Limited. UniCredit group owns 50.5 percent in the Romanian lender.

The consolidated net profit of UniCredit Tiriac Bank and UniCredit Consumer Financing increased by 18 percent in the first quarter of 2014 in Romania, reaching RON 72 million (EUR 16 million).
At the end of the first quarter UniCredit Tiriac Bank had a total of 188 branches, while the number of employees for UniCredit Tiriac Bank and UniCredit Consumer Financing was of over 3,100.

Ion Tiriac, a former tennis player, is one of Romania’s richest entrepreneurs. He controls the car importers for Jaguar, Land Rover, Range Rover, Hyundai, and also sells Ford and Mercedes Benz through its Tiriac Auto centers in Romania.  His holding runs real estate, insurance and car dealership businesses. In 2013, Tiriac was elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

editor@romania-insider.com