Hungarys OTP Loses to Austrias Erste in Bidding for Croatian Card Company Diners Club

Hungarys leading lender, OTP Bank Plc. has lost out in the bidding for Croatian card company Diners Club Adriatic, after the company signed the sales contract with Austrias Erste Bank on January 5.

OTP submitted its bid for DCA in September 2006, after carrying out due diligence at the card service provider.

"OTP Bank Plc. hereby announces that the negotiations, following the binding bid for the acquisition of a 100-per-cent shareholding in Croatia-based Diners Club Adriatic d.d. (DCA) on September 15, 2006, were unsuccessful. In 2007, OTP will focus its attention on the consolidation of the acquired assets," the lender said in a statement on the Budapest Stock Echanges website.

"Erste Bank AG has gained 100-per-cent ownership in Diners Club Adriatic d.d. (DCA), one of the leading credit card companies of Croatia. The final price will depend on the firms 2006 profits, but will not exceed EUR 153 million," Erste said in a statement.

DCA is the second-largest credit card issuer in Croatia, with 450,000 issued cards and a 30-per-cent market share. Diners Club Adriatic is a local licensee the of U.S.-based Diners Club International, and was owned by three Croatian private investors.

At the end of 2005, Diners Club Adriatic had total assets of EUR 132 million, and recorded profits of EUR 8.5 million and revenues of EUR 50 million.

Source: derstandard.at