BCR is now owned by Erste Bank

The privatization of the Romanian Commercial Bank, with a subsidiary in Republic of Moldova, is over. By transferring EUR 2.2 billion in the account opened by the Romanian state in the Citibank in London, Erste Bank has become the new main shareholder of the Romanian Commercial Bank. Manfred Wimmer, head of the strategic group within Erste Bank, declared the transaction that took place on Thursday is the biggest ever done by his institution. “It is the biggest acquisition of an Austrian company made in another country and is the biggest foreign investment ever done in Romania”, the head of the Erste strategic group declared. The Austrian bank was announced as winner of the last year’s auction for privatization of the BCR, and offered EUR 3.75 billion for 61.88% of the bank’s shares. The Romanian state received EUR 2.2 billion for 36.8% of the BCR shares. BERD and IFC will receive EUR 750 million each for 12.5% of the bank’s social package. BCR is the most important bank of Romania, having actives of over EUR 10 billion. The bank currently has branches in the whole country, with a national network of over 1 200 ATM’s and almost 8 500 POS. The number of clients is currently over 4.4 million, of which 90% are individual persons. In the first semester of this year, the bank had profits of approx. EUR 125 million, with 11.5% more than the same value from 2005. BCR also has a division in the Republic of Moldova - BCR Chisinau. Previously, representatives from Erste Bank mentioned they plan to extend their activity on the Moldovan market.