Officially, J.C. Flowers’s representatives held extended talks to take over a stake in Carpatica, but it would be equally interested in Piraeus.
End-2014, Piraeus ranked 11th in the Romanian banking system, with a 2.5% market share, while Carpatica ranked 20th, with a 0.9% market share. With an aggregate market share of 3.4%, the new entity would rank 9th among the largest banks on the local market.
J.C. Flowers, established in 1998, is one of the US’ funds specialized in the acquisition of banks depreciated as a result of the crisis. J.C. Flowers founder, James Cristopher Flowers, established his investments banker career at Goldman Sachs and has a fortune estimated at $1.4 billion, according to Forbes.
(English version by Manuela Panescu)