Banking sources say Rothschild and EY are the advisors of Varde, a firm that came out of nowhere in Romania and is now trying to buy both Bancpost and Piraeus Bank, where it got access to the data room. Varde is competing with Banca Transilvania for Bancpost, the ninth leading lender in the market, with 11 billion lei (EUR2.5 billion) assets and 2.9% market share.
The consultants of Eurobank, Bancpost owner, are Mediobanca and HSBC London.
Historically, Rothschild has been the consultant of Erste and of its CEO Andreas Treichl. Rothschild was behind Erste in its acquisition of BCR in 2005. If Banca Transilvania, the second leading lender in Romana, manages to buy Bancpost, its market share will reach 16% and thus the bank will become a direct competitor to BCR for the top spot.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)