September 17 (SeeNews) - Vista Bank Romania said that it has completed the takeover of the local subsidiary of French banking group Credit Agricole.
Vista completed the acquisition after receiving all necessary approvals from Romania's central bank and anti-trust body, it said in a press release on Thursday.
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The integration of the two entities is expected to finalize next year, and during this interim period Vista Bank and Crédit Agricole Romania will operate independently.
"We are excited for the acquisition of Crédit Agricole Romania which represents a milestone in our strategy to consolidate our position in the market. Scaling up our business will allow us to increase our efficiency, accelerate growth and improve our capacity to offer value added services and better banking experience to our existing and future clients," Vista Bank CEO Georgios Athanasopoulos said.
After the merger, Vista Bank will have total assets of above 1.4 billion euro ($1.65 billion), loans of 800 million euro, deposits of 1.2 billion euro and more than 105 million euro CET1 capital.
Credit Agricole signed an agreement to sell its Romanian subsidiary to Vista Bank Romania on January 4. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Credit Agricole Romania was established in 2010, following the acquisition of Emporiki Bank, including its regional subsidiaries, by Credit Agricole, the third largest banking group in Europe by assets in 2019. The bank provides a broad range of products and services and its main focus is on the SMEs active in the agribusiness segments.
Formerly known as Marfin Bank, Vista Bank Romania was rebranded in May 2019. The bank was acquired by Greek business conglomerate Vardinogiannis Group in July 2018 from Greek group Marfin Investment. It currently operates a network of 31 branches and has 320 employees in Romania providing a full range of products and services to local and international clients.
($=0.8489 euro)
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