BBVA, which is the majority shareholder of Garanti Turkey, put the Romanian division up for sale in 2019.
Garanti Bank Romania had a market share of 2.19% and assets of RON10.8 billion in 2019, making it the tenth largest lender in the country.
Banca Transilvania, Raiffeisen Bank, Intesa, OTP Bank and First Bank owner J.C. Flowers expressed interest in Garanti.
OTP Bank and Intesa had entered the final stage of the sale process early this year but the COVID-19 outbreak put a halt on the process. OTP submitted a financial offer in September but BBVA ultimately decided not to sell the bank. The Spanish group was looking to get over ER400 million for the Romanian lender.
This is the second time OTP fails to expand on the Romanian market through acquisitions after its bid to buy Banca Romaneasca was struck down by lack of central bank approval. OTP had a market share of 2.6% at the end of 2019.