The Board of Directors of Romania’s National Bank (BNR), on December 12, approved the acquisition of  local lender Banca Romaneasca, a subsidiary of the National Bank of Greece (NBG), by Romanian state-controlled foreign trade bank Eximbank, Economica.net informed quoting unofficial sources.

The two banks have one year to complete the merger.

A Government Decision allows Eximbank to expand its operations and be able to take over all the operations carried out by Banca Romaneasca, which is a universal bank.

The price of the transaction is much lower one than previously reported, according to sources close to the transaction.

Eximbank will pay no more than EUR 50 million for NBG’s stake in Banca Romaneasca, excluding the credit line Banca Romaneasca has to repay to NBG.

Eximbank announced in June that it signed with the National Bank of Greece the acquisition agreement of 99.28% from Banca Româneasca.

Following the completion of this transaction, the market share of EximBank will increase to approximately 3% placing it among the top 10 financial-banking institutions in Romania.

(Photo: Eximbank.ro)

editor@romania-insider.com