UniCredit announced last fall that it had reached an agreement with Greece’s Alpha Group to buy Alpha Bank Romania, which was a surprise move, considering Alpha had not signaled intention to sell its Romanian operation.
UniCredit has already included the acquisition of Alpha Bank in its reports to investors, which puts the Italian-held group on the third position in the banking sector in Romania, according to its estimates. UniCredit seeks to gain ground in the retail business and strengthen position on the corporate market with its merger with Alpha Bank, Petkova added.
The new entity should have a combined market share of 12% in terms of assets. UniCredit Romania had a market share of 8.62% at the end of 2022 and Alpha Bank Romania a little more than 3%, so their combined market share stood at 11.6% at the time.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)