The antitrust authority said early November it was looking into the deal whereby OTP Bank Romania is acquiring Banca Romaneasca SA, as well as the Romanian assets of the London subsidiary and of the branch in Malta belonging to National Bank of Greece (NBG).
The deal now requires central bank approval.
Both OTP Bank Romania and Banca Romanească SA operate in the field of financial and banking services.
OTP Bank Romania is part of OTP Group which provides universal financial services in Hungary, Romania, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia and Serbia.
Banca Romaneasca SA is a financial institution focusing mostly on the retail segment.
End-July 2017, OTP Bank Romania reached an agreement to purchase lender Banca Romaneasca from National Bank of Greece, which is selling assets in the Balkans, including its Romanian operations, to complete a restructuring plan agreed with European authorities. OTP is to buy NBG’s 99.28% stake in Banca Romaneasca, raising its market share to approximately 4% and becoming the eighth largest lender in Romania. The parties did not disclose the financial aspects of the deal.
This is OTP’s second acquisition in Romania after taking over Millenium Bank in 2014 from Portugal’s Millennium bcp.