Hungarian OTP Bank to acquire Bulgarian, Albanian units of Societe Generale

OTP Bank on Thursday said it agreed to buy a 99.74 percent stake in the Bulgarian unit and an 88.89 percent shareholding in the Albanian unit of France’s Societe Generale Group.

The acquisition “will further strengthen [OTP Group’s] market position in Bulgaria”, the lender said of the purchase of Societe Generale Expressbank. OTP will make the acquisition in Bulgaria through its local unit DSK Bank.

Societe Generale Expressbank has a market share of about 6.7 percent, making it Bulgaria’s seventh-biggest bank.

In a separate disclosure, OTP said it agreed to acquire an 88.89 percent stake in Banka Societe Generale Albania.

Banka Societe Generale Albania has a market share of close to 6 percent and is the fifth-largest bank on the market.

OTP expects to close both transactions in Q4 2018, pending regulatory approval.

In addition to the transactions, OTP said it is in talks with Societe Generale on entering into a services agreement on providing mutual services in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Hungary. These services would include, but not be limited to, investment banking, capital markets, financing and global transaction banking.

Source: MTI