UniCredit expects acquisitions in banking sector

The mergers and acquisitions market will grow over the coming period, on the one hand via transactions involving the state, which mainly seeks to sell minority stakes, and on the other hand following the interest shown by foreign investors seeking to take advantage of the low prices of Romanian companies, says Rasvan Radu, CEO of UniCredit Tiriac Bank.

He says the banking market in turn, which comprises a relatively large number of players and is not growing, is expected to see acquisitions and consolidations rather than abrupt, individual restructuring.

Radu expects the corporate sector will account for the bulk of banks’ business over the next three-five years, while the profitability of the retail segment seen in past years “is no longer there”.

“We want to continue to grow on the corporate segment because things will move faster here. We want to become leaders of the corporate services segment,” said the head of UniCredit.

The end of the first quarter of the year saw the bank climb to no. 5 in the banks’ ranking by assets, with 20 billion RON, ahead of CEC Bank.