Another Romanian bank was sold. The Competition Council authorized the transaction

The banks present in Romania seem particularly attractive for investors, given the intensity of transactions on the banking market in the last period.

The Competition Council has authorized the transaction by which Intesa Sanpaolo SpA intends to take over First Bank SA

Intesa Sanpaolo SpA is mainly active in the financial-banking field, being the parent company of the Intesa Sanpaolo group. The Intesa Group is present in Romania through the Romanian subsidiary, Banca Comerciala Intesa Sanpaolo Romania SA

First Bank SA is a credit institution active on the financial-banking services market in Romania, which operates a network of 40 branches and offers services to both individuals and legal entities.

Following the analysis, the Competition Council found that this operation does not raise significant obstacles to effective competition on the Romanian market or on a substantial part of it and that there are no serious doubts regarding its compatibility with a normal competitive environment.

Italy’s Intesa Sanpaolo announced in October 2023 that it would buy Romania’s First Bank from the American private equity fund JC Flowers.

JC Flowers acquired First Bank from Piraeus Bank in 2018. A year later, it took over smaller rival Leumi, which was incorporated into the First Bank brand.

The investment will double Intesa’s presence in Romania, where its local unit has 60,000 customers and 34 branches, with assets of 1.5 billion euros. Intesa Sanpaolo has been present in Romania since 1996.

Intesa Sanpaolo SpA is considering smaller acquisitions in the European regions where it operates and in countries located around the Mediterranean Sea, in order to strengthen some of its core activities. “While we focus on organic growth, the bank is prepared to benefit from external growth opportunities that may arise. An acquisition should bring synergies, be compatible with our business model and be done at the right value – conditions we don’t see at the moment,” Marco Elio Rottigni, head of Intesa’s International Subsidiary Banks Division (ISBD), told Bloomberg.

ISBD operates on three continents, through 11 commercial banks in CEE and Egypt, and has a wealth management company in China. Through a network of nearly 700 branches and approximately 21,000 employees, it serves seven million customers.