OTP eyes Banca Romaneasca

Hungary-based OTP Bank has not dropped its plans to enter the Romanian banking market, even though it has not had much luck over the past two years. After having been officially turned down by the Romanian State when attempting to take over a stake in the largest Romanian bank, Banca Comerciala Romana (Romanian Commercial Bank – BCR) last fall, it has now turned to a smaller bank: Banca Romaneasca (Romanian Bank). OTP had previously tried to strike a deal with Banca Transilvania shareholders in 2001, yet talks fell through.
“The Hungarians at OTP Bank have not dropped the plan to buy a Romanian bank. The latest info we have shows them to be carrying out talks with the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF) to buy the 70% RAEF holds in Banca Romaneasca and wants to sell,” sources close to the deal told Ziarul Financiar.
The audit of the Romanian bank’s financial results for last year is now expected, as such results are a starting point for the offer of any potential buyer.
RAEF has hinted it is planning to exit the Banca Romaneasca business in 2003 since the beginning of this year.
Banca Romaneasca chairman Petru Rares himself has recently said “RAEF’s exit this year can only be expected, as any investment matures at some point in time, and this is precisely the nature of an investment fund: buy into a business, achieve growth and then exit.”
Inquired whether he knew anything about the interest of the Hungarian bank in Banca Romaneasca on Tuesday, Rares had no comment, arguing confidentiality.
In case it comes through, this transaction could be one of the most important this year, as Banca Romaneasca is one of the last medium-sized banks for sale on the Romanian market. We might as well expect a change in the shareholding structure at Banca tiriac (rumours have been around for two years now) or Banca Transilvania, but nothing is certain at the moment.
Banca Romaneasca has a 23 office network and had its share capital doubled to 345bn ROL in 2002.