Romanian-American Enterprises Fund (FRAI) is planning to sell Banca Romaneasca (Romanian Bank) and is currently in talks with several foreign banking groups.
On the other hand, the Romanian-American Enterprises Fund, along with other international financial institutions, International Finance Corporation, the investment division of the World Bank inclusive, is planning to set up a mortgage bank by the end of next year.
FRAI on Monday bought 5% in Banca Agricola, as well, by having teamed up with Raiffeisenbank, the new majority shareholder of Banca Agricola.
FRAI holds the controlling interests (68.91%) in Banca Romaneasca.
“The foreign banks are very interested in Banca Romaneasca. We’re currently in talks with three or four foreign banks of world renown to sell the stake we hold in this bank. That’s what investment funds are supposed to do, isn’t it? ” John Klipper, FRAI chairman told Ziarul Financiar.
“Banca Romaneasca is one of our most recent investments on the banking market, it is a good one, and we’re not willing to give it away. We’re in no hurry to sell,” Klipper says.
He did not care to volunteer the names of the banks with which he was in talks, as neither did he volunteer any details about the value of the transaction.
Sources on the banking market told Ziarul Financiar it was about two Austrian banks and a Dutch one.
“The bank has registered a positive trend in 2001 and if we take into account the increase in the number of clients, the fact that it is gaining ground on the retail market and pioneers funding programmes for small and medium-sized companies, it is only natural that it should be attractive to investors.
Furthermore, considering the likelihood of a growth of the Romanian banking sector and of an increase in the number of foreign banks entering the Romanian market year after year, it may be a good idea for an investor to have a foothold here and buy something that is already there,” Petru Rares, the bank’s chairman said.
Banca Romaneasca is one of the middle-sized banks operating on the Romanian market, but has a good territorial network (20 branches), which is interesting to any investor.
Banca Romaneasca at the end of last year ranked 19th, accounting for 0.57% of the total banking assets in the Romanian banking system.
Its H1 profit reached 50 billion lei. The total assets of the bank amount to more than 2,000 billion lei.
Also Raiffeisenbank, now owner of Banca Agricola, showed interest in Banca Romaneasca last fall, but the strategy of the Austrian bank entailed gaining as much of the Romanian market as possible in a single move.