Romanian Banca Transilvania may become the new owner of OTP Bank Moldova within an overall deal on its purchase of OTP Bank România.
This is reported by Romanian media with reference to Bloomberg report, from which it follows that the heads of Banca Transilvania and Hungarian OTP Bank Nyrt are planning to meet on January 17 to discuss the deal on the sale of OTP Bank's division in Romania, as well as in Moldova. The information is reported citing sources who wished to remain unnamed, given the confidentiality of the information. According to the sources, despite the atmosphere of uncertainty, the negotiators plan to outline the key points of Banca Transilvania's offer before the meeting, and the sources assume that the proposed price is unlikely to change significantly. Last year, 4 major banks, Italy's UniCredit SpA, Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Erste Group Bank AG, along with Banca Transilvania expressed interest in acquiring OTP Bank România, the Romanian branch of OTP Group. Bloomberg reports that these banks have submitted indicative offers for the deal, which would bring the purchase price of OTP Bank's Romanian unit to at least 300 million euros. After negotiations, the deal will also include OTP's business in Moldova, which sources call a new stage in the sale process. As noted, the Hungarian OTP Group, which has a relatively small market share in Romania, has decided to exit the country and is pursuing a strategy of focusing on markets where it can achieve an established market share. According to the National Bank of Romania, OTP Bank România had $5 billion in assets at the end of 2022 and a market share of 2.9% at the end of 2021.The motivation behind the decision to sell was explained last spring, when OTP announced that there was no potential for growth through acquisitions in the Romanian market and, valuing the bank at 300-400 million euros, it would be able to benefit, as the source points out, from a successful sale in a changing geopolitical context. OTP Bank România emphasized that the sale process is part of its strategy to expand its range of strategic opportunities, and noted that the move will not affect the bank's current operations or objectives. Representatives of both banks involved in the deal declined to comment on the matter. Banca Transilvania, described as the strongest Romanian brand, has acquired several banks in recent years, including Volksbank, Bancpost and Idea::Bank. OTP Bank Moldova, a subsidiary of OTP Group since 2019, is an integrated and universal financial services provider. OTP Bank is ranked 3rd by assets in the ranking of banking institutions in Moldova, according to the NBM. OTP Group is one of the fastest growing banking groups and one of the leaders in the Central and Eastern Europe region, with outstanding profitability and a stable capital and liquidity position. With more than 41,000 employees in 12 countries in the CEE and Central Asia region, the group provides universal financial services to more than 17.5 million customers. As the most active bank integrator in the CEE region, the group has successfully acquired and integrated 23 banks from the early 2000s to date. At the same time, the bank is the market leader in Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia. Headquartered in Hungary, OTP Group has a diversified and transparent shareholder structure. The banking group has been listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange since 1995. // 15.01.2024 - InfoMarket.
