Polish group Getin Holding has taken over the lender Romanian International Bank (RIB), from Americans Daniel and Florina Roberts.

The bank, which used to be controlled by Roberts and his former wife Florina, each with 44.7 percent of the shares, has a market share of 0.12 percent by assets.

RIB ended 2012 with a loss of some EUR 2.5 million, and is in need of capitalization, as it has the lowest solvency rate in the Romanian banking system.

Law firm Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii offered legal services for the buyer, in the deal whose value was not announced.

"Romania is a promising market with high potential for the development of the banking sector - said Rafał Juszczak, Chairman of the Management Board of Getin Holding (in picture).

“As a group, we tested the business model, which is ideal for the markets of Central and Eastern Europe. We want to repeat this success in Romania. Our goal is to build a stable financial institution creating value for shareholders, " he added.

The deal is pending the ok from the Romanian central Bank and from the Competition Council.

Getin Holding is a capital group founded by Leszek Czarnecki, and operates on the Eastern European markets, where it controls three banks and a leasing company.

Idea Bank is the leader in the Ukrainian car loan market, while Belarusian Sombelbank focuses on the sale of loans to retail clients.

Carcade is a Russia based subsidiary. In 2011, Getin Holding acquired, through Carcade, the Russia based Kubanbank.

editor@romania-insider.com