Hungarian OTP Bank signs Banca Romaneasca takeover

Hungarian group OTP signed an agreement with the National Bank of Greece on the takeover of its Romanian subsidiary Banca Romaneasca. The transaction involves a 99.28% stake in Banca Romaneasca held by the National Bank of Greece and the purchase of additional exposures in Romania belonging to other subsidiaries of NBG. The parties haven’t disclosed the financial details of the transaction. The completion of the transaction is subject to approval by the supervisory authorities and the financial closing of the transaction is expected to be done by the beginning of 2018. Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking acted as Sole Financial Advisor to OTP Group in this transaction. „This transaction is a huge step towards achieving OTP Group’s strategic goals. Our acquisition strategy primarily focuses on markets with good growth prospects, and where it considers it realistic to reach an optimal market size and capitalise on cost synergies. This agreement is an important milestone in the development of OTP Bank Romania,” said László Wolf, Deputy CEO of OTP Bank's Commercial Banking Division. The market share of OTP Bank Romania will rise roughly to 4%, thereby becoming the 8th largest actor in the local banking market, based on 2016 figures. Banca Romaneasca is the 14th largest bank of Romania with a market share of roughly 1.62%, according to 2016 data. The bank is active both in the retail and the corporate segments as a universal bank. At end of 2016, the bank had assets totaling EUR 1.57 billion, with gross outstanding lending of EUR 1.15 billion. At present, Banca Romaneasca employs 1,148 persons, and operates 109 branches and 118 ATMs. „OTP Group is dedicated to further invest in the Romanian market, but further acquisition transactions will be considered only after full and successful integration of the present one,” Wolf added. This is OTP Bank’s second big acquisition in Romania after the takeover of Millennium Bank in 2014. editor@romania-insider.com