November 15 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said that it has issued a preliminary approval to local DSK Bank, a unit of Hungary's OTP Bank, to acquire a 99.735% stake in Societe Generale Expressbank from France's Societe Generale.
Following completion of the transaction, Varna-based Societe Generale Expressbank will become a subsidiary of DSK Bank, the central bank said in a statement on Wednesday.
You can subscribe to our M&A newsletter here
The deal, under which DSK Bank will also acquire Societe Generale Expressbank's units Societe Generale Factoring, Sogelease Bulgaria and Regional Urban Development Fund, has not yet been approved by Bulgaria's Commission for Protection of Competition.
In August, OTP said it has signed agreements to buy majority stakes in Albanian and Bulgarian units of French banking group Societe Generale. In Albania, OTP will buy 88.89% of Banka Societe Generale Albania.
The transactions are expected to be closed in the fourth quarter of 2018, OTP said at the time.
DSK Bank was Bulgaria's second largest lender by assets at the end of September, while Societe Generale Expressbank was the seventh biggest, according to central bank data.
DSK Bank EAD is among the biggest banks in SEE. You can download our SEE Top 100 ranking
here or subscribe to our free Top 100 newsletter
here