Final lap for RBS Romania sale

Major lenders on the international financial market, such as Deutsche Bank (Germany), HSBC (United Kingdom), BNP Paribas (France), EFG Eurobank (Greece), as well as Dinu Patriciu, one of Romania's wealthiest businessmen, are competing to acquire the local subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), according to financial market sources for Business Standard.

The sale is to enter its final lap in one month, when the lender that is most interested in increasing its portfolio with RBS Romania is to be made known. After that, the buyer will agree with RBS on the final price and takeover conditions.

RBS Romania is ranked 12th in the local banking system, in terms of assets. Its capital amounts to some €200 million, which means that the sale price will be about €400 million.

"According to my information, the process will be finalized by this fall," a Deutsche Bank source said, thereby confirming that the lender is interested in the acquisition.

The sale of RBS subsidiaries in Romania and Slovakia is being handled by the Swiss UBS investment bank, which is providing advisory services throughout the process.

Contacted by Business Standard, RBS Romania representatives declined to comment on the issue.

Neither officials of EFG Eurobank, which owns the Bancpost lender in Romania, nor businessman Dinu Patriciu, were available for comment before the closing of the print edition.

The President of RBS Romania, Peter Weiss, told Business Standard in a recent interview that the sale could take place in the second half of the year, and that the local subsidiary will be sold separately, rather than with other subsidiaries of the group.

Following tens of millions of euro in losses, the RBS group decided to forego operations on 15 markets, including Romania.

Business Standard