December 12 (SeeNews) - Hungarian banking group OTP is interested in the acquisition of more banks in Serbia as part of plans to continue its expansion in the country, Budapest-based media reported.
A total of six potential acquisitions of subsidiaries of troubled European banks will be available for acquisition next year, not only in Serbia, but throughout the region, daily Vilaggazdasag quoted the CEO of OTP, Sandor Csanyi, as saying on Monday.
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Earlier this month, OTP said it has finalised the acquisition of Serbia's Vojvodjanska Banka and NBG Leasing from the National Bank of Greece (NBG) and expects the integration process to be completed in the second quarter of 2019.
"With the acquisition, we proved our long-term commitment to the Serbian banking market, where we plan to continue to grow and become the biggest independent banking group in the region of Central and Eastern Europe," Csanyi said, as quoted in a statement by the Serbian unit of OTP, OTP Banka Srbija, on Monday.
Given the significant agriculture financing market share of Vojvodjanska Banka, OTP will target a leadership in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the segment, Vilaggazdasag reported.
In August, NBG said it had signed an agreement to sell Vojvodjanska Banka and NBG Leasing to OTP Banka Srbija. The agreed consideration for the entire share capital of Vojvodjanska Banka and NBG Leasing amounts to 125 million euro ($147.2 million), NBG said back then.
OTP Banka Srbija was founded in May 2007. The lender was incorporated after the merger of Serbian banks Niska Banka, Zepter banka and Kulska banka.