November 13 (SeeNews) - BNP Paribas said on Tuesday that its consumer credit unit Cetelem has finalised the acquisition of Bulgarian sector company JetFinance International.
“The acquisition […] strengthens Cetelem's No.1 position in consumer credit in Continental Europe and confirms its capacity to offer a genuine pan-European product to its distribution partners”, BNP Paribas said in a statement.
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Cetelem has operations in 29 countries, including Bulgaria's neighbours Romania and Serbia. It has almost 60 billion euros of outstanding credit and 23,000 employees.
Cetelem agreed to buy 100% of JetFinance International, the leading consumer finance company in the EU newcomer, for an undisclosed sum in August. Before the deal, JetFinance International was majotiry owned by U.S. AIG Investments through the AIG -New Europe Fund, a fund sponsored by AIG Capital Partners, Inc.
Bulgaria, a southeast European country of 7.7 million people, joined the EU in January.
JetFinance has around 500,000 clients and offers its products in some 3,600 retail outlets and through its own network of branches.
BNP Paribas has been present in Bulgaria since 1994. It has a branch in the country's capital Sofia servicing small and medium-sized enterprises and major corporations, as well as institutional clients, in all sectors of the economy.