Competition for Banca Romaneasca

Hungary’s OTP Bank is not the only institution interested in taking over the 75% stake owned by the Romanian-American Investment Fund (FRAI) in Banca Romaneasca (Romanian Bank). “We are in advanced talks with another bank (i.e. other than OTP Bank),” Horia Manda, FRAI vice-president told Dow Jones. Manda would not reveal the identity of the other bank. According to information on the Bucharest banking market, the Hungarian bank has started negotiations to take over Banca Romaneasca. Banca Romaneasca last year reported gross profit of 204bn ROL (more than $6m), up almost 30% in real terms since the previous year. ZF