Erste Group, the majority shareholder in BCR, is making anotherattempt to sell Anglo-Romanian Bank, the London-registeredsubsidiary of the biggest Romanian bank, with the outcome ofundergoing negotiations with an investor being expected in twomonths at the latest.
The Austrians' attempts at finding a buyer have taken up almosttwo years in the context where the international economic downturnhas curbed the number of potential investors.
As the sale project was abandoned at some point, the Austriansembarked upon restructuring the Anglo-Romanian Bank, deciding toclose its Frankfurt subsidiary through which BCR's internationalpayments were largely processed. The liquidation of Germanoperations cost over 3.4m euros, contributing to the 3.5m-euro netloss the bank ended 2009 with, after 11.6m-euro profit in 2008.
The Frankfurt subsidiary ceased its operations in late September2009, after the Austrians decided BCR would become a client of theVienna group's payment platform. In the past year an a half,investors interested in taking over the lending institution haveincluded Dinu Patriciu, together with banks or funds outside theEU, as well as a Baltic bank.
Last year, the bank was harmed by exposure to Ukraine andKazakhstan, where several institutional clients defaulted.
Pentru alte știri, analize, articole și informații din business în timp real urmărește Ziarul Financiar pe WhatsApp Channels
