Eight investors express interest to buy Romanian lender Bancpost

Eight investors have expressed their interest in acquiring Bancpost, the ninth largest lender in Romania based on its assets. These are both strategic and institutional investors, coming from Romania, as well as from abroad, sources in the banking market told Ziarul Financiar. The sale process is managed by Mediobanca, the largest investment bank in Italy, and HSBC, the largest bank in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. Greek group EFG Eurobank, Bancpost’s owner, wants to sell the banking, consumer credit, and leasing operations. Eurobank is pressured by Greece's international creditors to sell its subsidiaries outside Greece. Bancpost was built after 1990 on the structure of the Romanian postal operator. It was privatized at the end of the ‘90s. The financial crisis that started in 2008, coupled with the Greek crisis that began in 2010, affected Bancpost’s operations. Bancpost ranked 9th in Romania at the end of 2015 with a market share of 3%, down compared to 2014. editor@romania-insider.com