Czech Banka Creditas should become the new owner of Expobank CZ, which has ties to Russia, as the two companies have signed a sales agreement that is now subject to approval by the Czech National Bank and Czechia’s antitrust office UOHS, the two banks said in a joint announcement.
The banks did not disclose the transaction value.
The two banks continue to operate independently and nothing changes for their clients and employees, they said.
The sale of Expobank CZ to a consortium of Latvia’s Signet Bank and US investors, which was announced in March, will not take place. The consortium decided to withdraw from the sale due to a change in its business strategy, the banks said.
“Banka Creditas is a stable financial institution that has ambitions to continue to grow both organically and through acquisitions. The acquisition of Expobank CZ is fully in line with our growth strategy,” said Banka Creditas board chairman Vladimir Horejsi.
“This transaction is a further impetus to the growth of Expobank CZ on the Czech market. Our strategy will be to take advantage of the synergies between the two companies and the background of a strong purely Czech owner,” said Expobank CZ board chairman Petr Krumphanzl, adding that the bank will continue to concentrate mainly on retail banking.
Expobank CZ is a small Czech bank with total assets amounting to CZK 12 billion. It has been active on the Czech market since 1991. Its majority owner, Igor Kim, is an investor in the Russian and European banking sector.
Expobank CZ joined the Expobank network after its acquisition by Germany’s LBBW in 2014.
Banka Creditas was established in 1996 as credit union 1. Trebicska zalozna. It was the largest Czech credit union until the end of 2016 and became a bank on January 1, 2017. It is a medium-sized bank with total assets of over CZK 80 billion. It is part of the Creditas investment group.
Source: CTK
