Hungarian group OTP is in advanced talks to take over local lender Banca Romaneasca, the local subsidiary of the National Bank of Greece (NBG), according to market sources cited by local Profit.ro.

When asked about this transaction, László Wolf, deputy president of OTP Bank Group, said that OTP “is following the process”.

Laszlo Diosi, the executive director of OTP Bank Romania, announced at the beginning of this year that the Hungarian lender was interested in acquiring a bank with a market share of over 1% this year. The Hungarian group has a market share of about 3% and wants to reach over 5% and enter top 10 local lenders.

Banca Romaneasca had a loan portfolio of RON 4.8 billion (EUR 1 billion) at the end of 2015. Its market share reached 2.2%. Of the total loans, retail loans reached over RON 4 billion (EUR 880 million).

OTP Bank had a loan portfolio of RON 7.7 billion (EUR 1.7 billion) at the end of 2016. The Hungarian group also purchased the local subsidiary of Portuguese lender Millennium bcp in 2015.

At a press conference in Budapest earlier this year, László Wolf said that he expected OTP to complete the purchase of a Romanian bank by the end of this year. He didn’t mention the name of the bank to be acquired.

OTP Bank Romania ups profit 12% in 2016

editor@romania-insider.com