The Competition Council has approved the takeover of Emporiki Bank by Credit Agricole SA, finding that the deal does not perturb the banking market by affecting competition in this sector.
Credit Agricole will take over all Emporiki Bank assets, thus entering the retail and corporate banking markets.
Credit Agricole is active in Romania through its subsidiary Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank, an investment bank involved in cross-border financial transactions.
France’s largest bank, Credit Agricole has defeated the Bank of Cyprus in the runnup for Emporiki. The official volume of the transaction is 3.3 billion euro.
Emporiki holds 374 branches in Greece and operations in Albania, Bulgaria, Germany and Romania. It established its Romanian branch in September 1999.
