Greek bank EFG Eurobank Ergasias, the majority shareholder in Bancpost, has become the lead player in the race for the acquisition of the Romanian Savings Bank (Casa de Economii si Consemnatiuni - CEC). This is the result following the submission of non-committing bids, with the company offering an indication price of about 300 million euros for a 75% stake in the oldest financial institution of Romania, according to sources close to the privatisation process.
The Hungarian firm OTP ranked second, bidding about 270 million euros for a majority stake in CEC, the above-quoted sources also stated.
The best offers also included that submitted by Raiffeisen Austrian bank, the sources explained.
All three banks are already present in Romania. Raiffeisen ranks third in the domestic banking system, while Bancpost came eighth in mid-year, with assets worth 1.2 billion euros.
OTP acquired RoBank in the spring of 2004, one of the smaller banks, and is trying to expand on the market at any cost, so as to reach a higher position.
The prices suggested by the above-quoted sources as being in the non-committing bids were not confirmed either by the Privatisation Commission or by the competing banks.
It thus appears as though, following the submission of the non-committing bids, the players with strong positions in Central and Eastern Europe have proved to be the most aggressive.
The seven banks will go head to head in the final bidding round, after having access to the data room of CEC, an institution which at the end of the first half of this year held assets worth 1.46 billion euros, ranking fifth, with a market share of 5%.
However, the race for BCR, which is in a more advanced stage, is likely to affect CEC. Erste is running in the final stage of the privatisation process of the largest Romanian bank. Another two banks, Dexia and the National Bank of Greece, left the race for BCR and are currently among the contenders for CEC.
Prior to the filing of final bids, the Italian Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Dexia Bank, EFG Eurobank, Erste Bank, National Bank of Greece, OTP Bank and Raiffeisen all remain in the race for CEC. French financial giant Societe Generale, which owns BRD, the second largest player in the Romanian banking system, abandoned the race without even submitting a non-committing bid.
The deadline is estimated to be the end of November. In the scoring criteria for the selection of the winner, the price offered supposedly counts for 70-90%.
The Finance Ministry is selling a maximum stake of 75% in CEC, but will not be selling less than 50% plus one share.
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