January 7 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's competition regulator said on Friday that Belgium-based KBC Bank, a unit of financial group KBC, is seeking its approval to acquire 100% of Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria.
Under the terms of the acquisition deal, KBC Bank will also acquire indirect control of Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria's wholly-owned units Raiffeisen Leasing Bulgaria, Raiffeisen Asset Management (Bulgaria), Raiffeisen Insurance Broker, and Raiffeisen Service, the Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said in a statement.
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KBC Bank is a multichannel bank that is mainly active in retail and private banking, providing services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-cap clients mainly in Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland and Slovakia, CPC noted.
Interested parties have until January 14 to file with the regulator their statements regarding the transaction.
In November, the KBC group said that KBC Bank signed an agreement to acquire Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria, comprising the Bulgarian banking operations of Austria-based Raiffeisen Bank International, for 1.015 billion euro ($1.14 billion) in cash.
Completion of the transaction is expected by the middle of 2022, KBC said at the time.
KBC also said back then that it intends, after regulatory approval, to proceed with the merger of Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria and United Bulgarian Bank (UBB), which will allow KBC to strengthen its position in the Bulgarian banking market.
Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria was Bulgaria's sixth-largest lender by assets among 25 licensed banks and branches of foreign banks at the end of November, according to the latest central bank data.
KBC Group has been present in the Bulgarian financial sector since 2007. The group is present in Bulgaria through UBB, insurance brand DZI, UBB Interlease, UBB Pension Insurance, UBB Asset Management, UBB Factoring, UBB Insurance Broker and KBC Branch Bulgaria. Earlier this year, KBC acquired the Bulgarian life insurance and pension fund activities of Dutch-based NN Group.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)
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