April 19 (SeeNews) - Hungary's OTP Bank said on Thursday that the agreement for the takeover of Banca Romaneasca (BROM) from the National Bank of Greece (NBG) has been terminated.
The agreement for the acquisition of the 99.28% shareholding held by NBG in Banca Romaneasca was terminated due to the non-fulfillment of the conditions precedents by the longstop date, OTP said in a statement filed to the Budapest Stock Exchange.
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In mid March, Romania's central bank BNR refused to approve the takeover of Banca Romaneasca by OTP Bank Romania, a subsidiary of Hungary-based OTP Bank. BNR gave no reason for its decision, citing the confidentiality of information obtained during the exercising of its powers in the field of authorisation, regulation and prudential supervision of credit institutions.
BNR's decision came after Romania's anti-trust regulator approved the takeover agreement in December.
OTP Bank also said on Thursday that it has withdrawn an appeal filed against BNR's decision.
Last month, OTP Bank said it remains committed to grow its presence in Romania despite the central bank's refusal to endorse the deal.
"The management is analysing the legal aspects of the letter of the supervisory authority, the deadline for appealing against the objection is 29 March 2018. Nevertheless, OTP Bank’s management is still committed to enhance its presence in Romania via organic growth or further acquisitions," OTP Bank said at the time.
OTP Bank Romania signed the deal with NBG for an undisclosed sum at the end of July.
OTP Bank Romania's consolidated adjusted after-tax profit of its Romanian unit surged 88% year-on-year in 2017, reaching 44.85 million lei ($11.9 million/9.62 million euro). Its operating profit rose by 12% on the year to 138 million lei in 2017, as a result of stable operating expenses and higher total income.
(1 euro=4.6530 lei)
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