The Competition Council has authorized the takeover of Leumi Bank Romania by First Bank, by acquiring 99.9235% of the joint capital, a release posted on Monday on the institution’s website reads.
The Competition Council’s analysis has led to the conclusion that the economic concentration does not significantly impede effective competition on the Romanian market or on a substantial part of it, and there are no serious doubts as to its compatibility with a normal competitive environment.
The Competition Council’s decision will be posted on the website of the institution after the deletion of confidential information.
First Bank announced in April it had signed an agreement with Bank Leumi Israel B.M to purchase the Bank Leumi subsidiary in Romania.
Bank Leumi Romania holds a national network of 15 subsidiaries and manages assets over EUR 250 million and deposits of EUR 150 million.
First Bank, the former Piraeus Bank, opened its first branch on the local market under a new identity in November 2018, after Piraeus Bank Romania had been acquired by JCF IV Tiger Holdings S.àr.l, an entity which is part of the group JC Flowers & Co earlier in June last year.
First Bank Romania operates through 100 banking units, has 1,200 employees and about 130,000 active clients. At the end of last year, it was ranked the 11th among the banks in terms of assets, the aggregated assets are worth approximately RON 6.44 billion, equivalent to a market share of 1.51 percent.