BR close to changing shareholder

The transaction through which the National Bank of Greece (NBG) is to take over from the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund (RAEF) the majority stake in Banca Romaneasca is about to be finalised these days, banking sources say. Final documents are soon going to be drafted and signed. Information about this deal has been spreading on the Bucharest banking market for several months now, but, with a few exceptions, all information was uncertain, especially as the officials of the two parties involved have not provided many details during this period. Even though the Greek finalised financial and legal reports several months ago, negotiations and discussions have especially revolved around prices all summer. In case it is finalised, this transaction is most likely to be the biggest of this year, as it estimated at about 20-22 million dollars. The National Bank of Greece, the largest Greek commercial bank, has been present on the Romanian market since 1997 through a single unit, but so far, it has not elaborated much on its expansion strategy. ZF