Erste Bank's Romanian Arm Says Businessman Dinu Patriciu Among Bidders for Anglo-Romanian Bank

On Tuesday Romanian media reported that Patriciu, who is the CEO of Romania's second-largest private oil group Rompetrol, has reached an agreement with Erste Bank to buy Anglo-Romanian Bank. The value of the deal was estimated at some 100 million euro ($126 million).

"Patriciu is one of the bidders, but negotiations are still carried on, also with some other bidders," BCR spokesman Cornel Cojocaru said in a statement, without naming the other bidders.

"In all cases, Anglo-Romanian Bank is a profitable operation and we are not in any urgent hurry to sell it," Cojocaru added.

Anglo-Romanian Bank has subsidiaries in Frankfurt and Bucharest and branches in several other Romanian cities. Its assets totalled almost 540 million euro at the end of December 2007 and its net profit reached nearly 10 million euro last year.

Around 90% of the bank’s loans are extended to companies from emerging countries, mainly the countries of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including Kazakhstan and Georgia, markets in which Patriciu is interested, Romanian media has reported.

Banca Comerciala Romana (BCR), majority owned by Erste Bank, is Romania's top lender in terms of assets. Anglo-Romanian Bank is part of the BCR Group (www.bcr.ro), along with BCR Asigurari, BCR Asigurari de Viata, BCR Securities, BCR Leasing, BCR Asset Management, BCR Administrare Fond de Pensii, BCR Banca pentru Locuinte and a BCR subsidiary in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital.

($=0.7922 euro)