January 16 (SeeNews) - Romania’s Banca Transilvania [BSE: TLV] said on Tuesday it has become a shareholder of Victoriabank, Moldova’s third-largest lender.
It is for the first time in the past 10 years when a bank outside Moldova is investing on the country's market, Banca Transilvania said in a statement.
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In November, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said that Banca Transilvania intended to acquire an initial stake of over 39% in Victoriabank.
As a result of the investment, Banca Transilvania and the EBRD have a total participation of over 66% in Victoriabank, according to the statement.
The priorities of Banca Transilvania for Victoriabank, as shareholder alongside the EBRD, are to support the business environment in Moldova, especially the SME and microenterprise sector, and to develop a wider range of products and services for retail clients.
Victoriabank has almost 30 years of activity, 540,000 customers, 1,400 employees and nearly 100 units.
The BancaTransilvania Financial Group has been present in Moldova for over 10 years, since having founded the company BT Leasing MD.
Banca Transilvania is the second-largest bank by total assets in Romania with the EBRD as a shareholder since 2001. Its shares traded 0.44% lower at 2.2850 lei as at 1506 CET on Tuesday on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
(1 euro=4.6599 lei)
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