EU Endorses Raiffeisen Buy of Romanian Housing Bank HVB BpL

"The European Commission has granted clearance [...] to the acquisition of joint control of HVB Banca pentru Locuinte [...] by Raiffeisen Bausparkasse GmbH, belonging to the RBSK Group of Austria, Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall AG, controlled by the Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank bank group (DZ) of Germany, and Raiffeisen Bank SA (RBRO) of Romania, controlled by the Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich Aktiengesellschaft group (RZB) of Austria," the Commission said in a statement.

The operation has been examined under the simplified merger review procedure, the statement said.

Raiffeisen Bank Romania said in July it has signed a joint agreement for the acquisition of a 100% of HVB BpL from Vereinsbank Victoria Bauspar (VVB), Bank Austria Creditanstalt and Romania's UniCredit Tiriac Bank for an undisclosed sum.