July 3 (SeeNews) - Serbian lender Direktna Banka Kragujevac said on Monday it has completed the integration of Findomestic Banka Beograd which it acquired from BNP Paribas in February.
After the integration, Direktna Banka has 400 employees and has doubled the size of its branch network, the lender said in a press release.
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The transaction is in line with Direktna Banka's efforts to expand its presence in Serbia and become a leader in the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) segment in the country, the bank said.
Direktna Banka was established after Serbian entrepreneurs Andrej Jovanovic and Bojan Milovanovic acquired KBM banka from Slovenian Nova Kreditna Banka Maribor (NKBM) in February 2016.
Jovanovic and Milovanovic were the owners of Serbian snacks company Marbo Product, which was sold to Pepsico for 210 million euro in 2008.
Findomestic Banka Beograd was established in 2006 after Italian lender Findomestic Italia purchased a 95% stake in Serbia's Nova Banka for 23 million euro ($24.7 million). In 2011, BNP Paribas took control of the Italian lender and Findomestic Banka Beograd became a subsidiary of the French group.
Direktna Banka Kragujevac booked a loss of 278.6 million dinars ($2.6 million/2.3 million euro) in 2016, versus a 394.5 million dinars loss in the previous year, data from the country's central bank, NBS, shows.
(1 euro = 120.394 dinars)