The European Commission has approved, under the EU merger regulation, the takeover of the local bank Alpha Bank Romania SA by the Italian banking group UniCredit.

"The Commission concluded that the transaction does not raise competition concerns, given the limited market positions of the companies resulting from the proposed transaction. The transaction was examined under a simplified merger review procedure," reads the press release of the Community Executive, quoted by Profit.ro.

The merger between UniCredit Bank SA and Alpha Bank Romania SA will create the third largest bank on the local market, with a combined market share of 12% in terms of total assets.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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