B2Holding buys EUR 271 mln bad loans from Raiffeisen Bank Romania

Norwegian debt recovery firm B2Holding has acquired a portfolio of bad loans with a nominal value of EUR 271 million from local lender Raiffeisen Bank Romania. The portfolio includes about 2,500 individual loans, reports local Profit.ro. B2Holding entered the local market last year by acquiring the Bulgarian debt recovery firm Debt Collection Agency (DCA), which also had operations in Romania. Shortly after, B2Holding bought a portfolio of EUR 370 million from BCR, the largest lender in Romania based on assets. The Norwegian firm is listed on the Oslo bourse. Raiffeisen Bank Romania recorded a non-performing loan ratio of 7.6% at the end of September. The Austrian banking group saw a net profit of EUR 74 million in Romania in the first nine months of this year, up EUR 10 million over the same period last year. editor@romania-insider.com