Romania's antitrust body reviews OTP unit's takeover by BT

The Competition Council will assess the terms of the notified transaction in accordance with current legislation to determine whether it can be granted clearance, the antitrust body said in a press release.

Banca Transilvania said in February that it concluded a deal to acquire 100% of the shares of OTP Bank Romania for 347.5 million euro ($373.2 million).

Banca Transilvania Financial Group, which also comprises Moldovan lender Victoriabank, BT Leasing Transilvania IFN, BT Investments, BT Direct IFN, BT Building, BT Microfinantare IFN, BT Leasing MD, BT Asset Management, Improvement Credit Collection, VB Investment Holding and Idea Bank, posted a net profit of 2.984 billion lei in 2023, up 19.94% year-on-year. The group's assets totalled 169.169 billion lei at the end of last year, up by an annual 20.4%.

Hungarian financial services group OTP said that the after-tax profit of its Romanian unit OTP Bank surged sevenfold to 20.099 billion forints in 2023.

In Southeast Europe, OTP is also present in Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Slovenia, Montenegro and Moldova.

Banca Transilvania shares traded 0.36% higher at 27.9 lei as at 1355 CET on Tuesday on the Bucharest bourse.

($=0.9310 euro)