Hungarian OTP in pole position to acquire Banca Romaneasca

OTP, the most powerful banking group in Hungary, is in the pole position in the tender for acquiring local lender Banca Romaneasca, according to sources in the banking market, cited by local Ziarul Financiar. Banca Transilvania, the second largest lender in Romania based on its assets, is also interested in acquiring Banca Romaneasca. At the end of last year, the banking group NBG - National Bank of Greece put up for sale its local subsidiary Banca Romaneasca. The sale is managed by Credit Suisse’s investment bank. Several investors showed interest in Banca Romaneasca, but only OTP and Banca Transilvania have remained in the race. They are interested in growing through acquisitions and have no problem repaying financing lines of over EUR 300 million to NBG Athens. Banca Romaneasca had assets of EUR 1.4 billion at the end of 2016. It had a market share of 1.6% on the local banking market down from 2.9% in 2008. OTP, which currently has a market share of 2.2%, is interested in reaching a share of 5% on the Romanian market. Several other local banks are up for sale, namely Bancpost, Marfin Bank, and Veneto Banca. editor@romania-insider.com