EximBank will enter the Romanian retail market from December 31, 2022, becoming a universal bank with a full range of services, the bank announced on Friday.

“After going through all the stages required by special legislation and banking regulations, the process of merger by acquisition between EximBank, as the acquiring company, and Banca Românească, as the acquiring company, received this month the preliminary approval of the National Bank of Romania, which allowed the registration of the merger at the National Office of the Trade Registry Traian Halalai, Executive President of EximBank, said.

He noted that under these conditions, from December 31, 2022 – the date of entry into force of the merger according to the unification project – the two banks will work as a single enterprise called EximBank.

“This is a very important moment both for EximBank, which becomes the leading Romanian universal bank, adding products for individuals to its portfolio, and for the local banking system, increasing the presence of Romanian capital in the financial and banking sector. market, especially in the context We believed from the beginning in the extraordinary potential of this project, and its successful completion once again demonstrates our firm commitment to continue supporting the growth of the Romanian economy through the financial support we will provide to all market segments, regardless of whether about individuals or about companies,” said Trayan Halalai.

After successive rounds of negotiations, EximBank and the National Bank of Greece (NBG) signed an agreement on June 20, 2019 for the purchase of a controlling stake in the Romanian bank, and in December 2019, the deal received a non-objection notice from the Competition Council and the National Bank of Romania, the respective regulatory authorities regarding this operation.

“With the fulfillment of mandatory regulatory requirements and other elements stipulated in the agreement, which EximBank and the National Bank of Greece signed in January 2020, all conditions for the conclusion of the agreement have been fulfilled,” the press release states.

According to the quoted source, the price paid by EximBank for BROM was almost 60 million euros for the acquired capital of about 130 million euros.

In addition to the price paid for the capital, the overall transaction included the repayment of a subordinated loan granted to the Romanian bank NBG in the amount of EUR 65 million, as well as the repayment by BROM of the intra-group financing received from the parent bank in the amount of EUR 90 million paid to Banca Românească from its own liquidity .

“The transaction did not involve any funding from the state budget. Regardless of the specific components of the universal bank, after the merger, EximBank will continue to work in the segment of state guarantees and insurance, according to the mandate received from the Romanian state,” the message also states.

EximBank was founded in 1992 and has as its main shareholder the Romanian state through the Ministry of Finance. Over the past ten years, the bank has developed so rapidly that, in addition to being among the 10 largest banks in Romania by assets, EximBank is today one of the most valuable Romanian companies and an institution of systemic importance.